Clean Transcript

Messiah's Divine Rights - Part 5

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• Psalm 110, beginning with verse 1: "The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath. He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries. He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head." Now we have been looking at Psalm 110 for the last four weeks and we have seen first of all in verse 1 that our Lord deserves royal honor. And he deserves royal honor, not only because of his person, he is God, but secondly, because of his position, he is seated at the right hand of God.

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• And then I dealt with these three phrases: "The LORD said unto my Lord," and then secondly, "Sit thou at my right hand," and then finally, thirdly, "until I make thine enemies thy footstool." And then last week we looked at verse 2: "The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies." And there I showed you how our Lord has the right to rule the heathen. He not only has the right to royal honor, he also has the right to rule the heathen.

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• He possesses divine authority and power. He rules with a rod. That rod may either be a threatening rod or it may be a friendly rod. I told you that our Lord could take care of his enemies in one of three ways. He may destroy them. He may subjugate them or he may convert them. Either way, it is totally, absolutely up to him. Whatever he does is right. He is sovereign and whatever he does will be right.

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• Some, I am sure, will praise the honor of his justice and others will praise the honor of his grace. Now, today, we're going to come to verse 3, where the Bible says, "Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power." That's the only phrase I'm really going to deal with. I will pick up there the next time and just kind of mention the latter part of this verse by way of introduction to verse 4. But we come to verse 3, which is a very powerful and telling verse. And I want you to understand that verse 3 can be also a further explanation of verse 2.

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• That is, one of the ways that God takes care of his enemies is that he converts them and therefore they become his friends. And so he says, "Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power," so he can demonstrate his grace and make his enemies his friends through an act of grace. So we come to verse 3. And here's the point: that he deserves reverent homage. He not only deserves royal honor and the right to rule the heathen, but thirdly, he deserves reverent homage.

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• Now, while our Lord's enemies may serve him reluctantly and unwillingly, the truth is his people eagerly and willingly serve him. Now, what is the difference? All are going to serve, but the enemies serve reluctantly and unwillingly, but his people serve him willingly and eagerly. What is the difference? And the answer is grace, pure and simple. The only reason we serve him willingly is because of his grace. We must remember that we, too, were once the enemies of Christ. The Bible says in Romans 5 and verse 10, you were once enemies. And in Colossians 1 and verse 21, the Bible tells us that we were enemies in our mind. And then Ephesians chapter 2 verses 1 through 3 tells us how we were dead in trespasses and in sins and how that we too were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

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• That is, at one time we walked in disobedience. We walked according to the prince of the power of the air. We fulfilled the lust of our flesh. We fulfilled the desires of our mind. But now we serve Christ. And we serve Him willingly. So you have to ask the question, who or what made the difference?

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• Now, I want you to hold Psalm 110, but look in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 4 and look at verse 7. A very important question is going to be asked. This question is very, very important. And your answer to this question will most certainly reveal whether or not you understand salvation by grace. Look in 1 Corinthians 4 and verse 7, the Apostle Paul asked the Corinthians, "For who maketh thee to differ from another?"

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• "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?"

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• Now look at the first part: "For who maketh thee to differ from another?" Now, the second part is this: "What hast thou that thou hast not received?" And then there's a third part: "If you receive it, why do you glory or boast as if you did not receive it?" So let's just look at that first part. "For who maketh thee to differ from another?" Why is it that you are saved and others are lost? Why is it that you understand truth while a multitude of others are wallowing in abysmal ignorance?

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• Who is it that receives the credit and the honor for your conversion? Who made you to differ? What have you that you did not receive from God? Let me just try to stimulate your thinking. Have you ever wondered why it is that you were born in a land of comparative freedom while others struggle daily to avoid a tyrannical imprisonment and death? Why is it that you were born with intelligence, physical strength, and a healthy body while others are mentally and physically handicapped? Who made you to differ? Was it your will? Was it your decision? Was it your education? Were you just simply smarter than everyone else?

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• Now, let me tell you something. If you ascribe any of your salvation to yourself—your intellect, your will, your works, your merit, your deeds—you do not understand the salvation that Scripture declares and that Christ bestows. God's salvation is indeed a work of God and not a work of man. God's salvation is a supernatural work and man does not cooperate in that salvation in any way whatsoever. Man does not save himself. Man does not help save himself.

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• Listen carefully, I've told you this in time past, but I'm going to repeat it again. The Bible does not teach synergism, it teaches monergism. Mono means one or alone. Ergo is I work. Monergism is the teaching that God works alone in salvation. Synergism—syn means to bring together, S-Y-N, or two, or pulling together. Synergism teaches that God and man cooperate, that they work together in saving man. The Bible does not teach synergism. The Bible teaches monergism, plain and simple. God works alone in salvation.

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• Now look in your Bibles to Mark chapter 10. And I know I've showed you this passage in times past, but I'm trying to set the stage today for a very important truth. And I want you to be familiar with this passage. You remember Mark chapter 10, the rich young ruler who came to Christ. And he asked, "Good Master, what good thing must I do that I may inherit eternal life?"

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• And our Lord, of course, told him, keep the commandments, etc. And the young man answered, "Well, all these have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?" And so our Lord then said, "Well, if you want to really be perfect, you go and sell everything that you have and you give to the poor and you take up your cross and follow me."

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• Now, you and I both understand that when you and I were converted, we never sold everything we had and gave to the poor. Why did our Lord tell this young man that? And the answer is very simple. He was applying the law of God and here was a young man who was exceedingly covetous because he was very rich and our Lord was putting his finger upon the very spot of his sin and rebellion against God and showing this young man who thought that he had kept all of God's commandments, he had not even kept the first commandment, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me," because his money was his god.

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• Now look at what our Lord says, it's still in the same context of salvation. Mark chapter 10, beginning there at verse 23: "And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." Now look at verse 26: "And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved?" Now note the question. "Who then can be saved?" What is the subject? Salvation. "Who then can be saved?" Jesus answers in verse 27: "And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible."

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• Now, what did our Lord just get out of his mouth? He said it is impossible for man to save himself. It's impossible for man to help save himself. Man can do absolutely nothing toward his salvation.

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• Now, let me point out that salvation is, in one sense of the word, a revelation of God as well as a work of God. Now, what am I talking about? Well, look in your Bibles to Matthew 11. Matthew 11. And notice what our Lord says. Matthew 11 and verse 27. Turn there, because I want you to see this. Look what our Lord says. Matthew 11, verse 27. Our Lord says, "All things are delivered unto me of my Father."

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• Now watch carefully what he teaches: "And no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him."

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• Now look at that again, because I want to ask you a question. Look at what our Lord says: "And no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither doth any man know the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him."

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• Now, based upon the Word of God, here's my question. How many can know the Father or the Son apart from divine revelation? None. Not one. Only God can reveal God. Now, let me ask you a question. Since salvation is basically divine revelation—"no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son"—that means this: If the Father does not reveal the Son, then no one knows Him. And if the Son does not reveal the Father, then no one knows Him.

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• Now let me show you an illustration. Look in Matthew chapter 16, and let's begin reading there at verse 13 of Peter's confession. Let me show you the application of Matthew 11 and verse 27. Matthew chapter 16, verse 13: "When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?"

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• Now here is the question: "Who do men say that I am?" Verse 14, and they answer, they say, "Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets." That's who they say you are. Well, watch this next question. And he says to them, "But whom say ye that I am?" Now the question is not who do men say that I am, but who do you say that I am? Verse 16: "And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." Now, what's this? Others were saying that Christ was John the Baptist or Elijah or Jeremiah or one of the prophets. But Peter comes back and says, "I'll tell you who you are. You are the Christ. You are the anointed one. You are the Messiah. You are God in the flesh. You are the Son of God. That's who you are." Now, here's my question. How did Peter know that?

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• Was he smarter than everyone else? Was he intellectual while others were just plain dumb? Did he exercise his will more than anyone else? Did he make a decision to know that? How did Peter know that Jesus Christ was God in the flesh? How did he know that he was the Messiah, the anointed one of God? Well, look, in verse 17, our Lord tells us: "And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven." How did Peter know who Jesus Christ was? The answer is, the Father revealed Him. It was not that Peter was smarter. It was not that Peter exercised his will. It was not that he was more intellectual. No, the Father revealed the Son to Peter. And Peter understood that Jesus Christ was indeed the Son of God. That's why the Bible says in Matthew 11, verse 27, only the Father can reveal the Son and only the Son can reveal the Father. It takes God to reveal God.

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• That's why Jonah, back in Jonah 2 and verse 9, said it like this: "Salvation is of the LORD." It is a work of God and an act of God. You say, "But now wait a minute, Pastor. I know the Bible teaches what you just said because you just read it to me. But you understand, Pastor, when I came to Christ, I willed to come to Christ. When I came to Christ, I wanted to come to Christ." Let me tell you up front, I don't doubt that for one minute. Because when I came to Christ, I willed to come to Christ. And I wanted to come to Christ. The question is not whether or not you willed to come to Christ. The question is, who made you willing to come to Christ? What made you willing to come to Christ?

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• The very fact that there were times in our lives that we were unwilling to come to Christ and did not want to come to Christ demonstrates that something had to have happened to our wills and our thinking. The very fact that you and I, for all of our lives, were unwilling to come and did not want to come, and then one day all of a sudden we willed to come and wanted to come, demonstrates the absolute necessity of the supernatural power of God in salvation. The fact is that all of us lived in rebellion for years before we came to Christ. We constantly and continually refused to come until the time we did come. So the question is, what made us come to Christ?

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• What does the Bible say in Psalm 110 and verse 3? Look at it. "Thy people shall be willing." Tell me when? "In the day of thy power." Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. In other words, Scripture teaches us that the power of God is absolutely necessary to bring us savingly to Jesus Christ. I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of John chapter 1, because I want you to see that one of the main passages that deals with salvation in the Bible is the passage that denies that salvation is based upon the will of man. Look in John 1 and let's begin reading there at verse 11. Everyone knows this passage.

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• The amazing thing is that we know it. We just don't ever think about it in the light that we should. Look in John 1:11: "He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." Now look at it very carefully again. Verse 12: "But as many as received him," and when we came to Christ, we received Him. "As many as received him, to them gave he" what? Power or authority to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. Now why did we believe on his name?

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• Why did we receive Him? Now look, the Bible says in verse 13, "which were born"—now here are the negatives—"not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." Now, let me tell you what the Bible is denying in verse 13. In verse 13, the Bible is denying that our salvation is based upon our ancestry. That is, we were not saved because of blood, nor are we saved because of works, nor of the will of man. Then he says, nor are we saved because of our own will, "nor of the will of man." Well, the will of the flesh was the second one. Now look, so we're born not of blood—ancestry had nothing to do with it—nor the will of the flesh—works had nothing to do with it—nor the will of man—our wills had nothing to do with it. What did have to do with it? "Of God." So go back and look at verse 12 and let's put the negatives in parentheses and let's read it like this.

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• "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 of God." The positive is, we were born of God.

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• Now, I've dealt with this truth many times over the years. But because of the context of Psalm 110, I'm going to deal with it again. "Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power." And besides that, in the last two weeks, I've had two or three individuals ask me this same question. And the question is usually phrased like this: "Well, I understand that God is sovereign and I understand that salvation is of the Lord, but what about the will of man?" Usually the question is couched in this language.

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• "What about man's free will?" Now, I want to make a statement about free will right now. And I'm going to prove it to you, hopefully, from Scripture and from common reason. But listen carefully, because I do not want to be misunderstood. Here's my statement about free will: There ain't no such animal. Free will does not exist. The Bible does not teach free will. What it does teach is freedom of will.

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• There are two totally different concepts. Two totally different positions. Free will, I'm going to explain a little bit later. Free will is a theological concept that teaches that man can save himself. Free will teaches that man can will himself into the kingdom of God, or at least he can take the first step toward his salvation. And after he takes the first step toward his salvation, then God is obligated to save him and finish the salvation process.

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• Now, Erasmus, who was a Roman Catholic scholar and a humanist who attacked Martin Luther, the reformer, attacked Luther on the basis of free will. Because Erasmus believed in free will. The Roman Catholic Church taught free will. And so Erasmus then wrote this scathing diatribe against Luther. And in response to Erasmus' diatribe, Luther wrote back a treatise. It is now a book. It's just about this thick. And the name of the book is "The Bondage of the Will." It is a wonderful book, and I want you to listen to what Luther said to Erasmus in thanking him for bringing up the subject of free will. Here's what Luther said to Erasmus: "You alone have attacked the real thing.

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• That is the essential issue. You have not worried me with those extraneous issues about the papacy, purgatory, indulgences and such like, trifles rather than issues, in respect of which almost all to date have sought my blood. You and you alone have seen the hinge on which all turns and aimed for the vital spot. For that I heartily thank you, for it is more gratifying to me to deal with the real issue."

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• What did he say to Erasmus? "You and you alone have seen the hinge on which all turns and have aimed for the vital spot." Is salvation based upon the will of man or the will of God? You see, the official position of the Roman Catholic Church is that man has a free will. And that man uses that free will to enter into salvation. So, basically, according to the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church, salvation is partly the work of man and partly the work of God. In fact, in the Council of Trent in the 1500s, the Roman Catholic Church came out with certain anathemas. Do you remember what the word anathema means? Anathema is a Greek word. It's where we get our word—what? Come on. Anathema. It's the same thing. It means to be cursed, condemned, to set apart for certain and sure destruction. And one of the anathemas in the Council of Trent was this: "If any man denies the doctrine of free will, let him be anathema." Let him be doomed, damned, set apart for certain destruction.

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• Now, Luther said this once again to Erasmus. He says, "Others who have lived before me have attacked the Pope's evil and scandalous life. But I have attacked him in his doctrine." Now, there's a difference. I wish it were possible today for me to quote extensively from the book, "The Bondage of the Will." But certainly time would not allow me to do so, but let me encourage you to purchase, rent, or borrow the book and read it. It is a very excellent dissertation, it's easily read, and it is most helpful. But Martin Luther nails Erasmus, and he nails down this concept and shows that the will is not free, but rather the will is in bondage.

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• Now, shortly, I'm going to show you the distinction between free will and freedom of will. And I hope you're going to see the absolute necessity for maintaining that distinction. Now, I'm going to give you a definition of free will. The definition is not my definition. I did not make it up. You can look in any systematic theology book and come up with this definition, OK? Here is how the Arminians, those who hold free will, define free will. I'm giving you their definition. Here it is: Free will.

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• That concept of the will whereby the will of man is regarded as autonomous, that is independent, and undetermined, and therefore capable of volition, that is willing, either good or bad, apart from any conditioning by a moral and religious character. Now, listen to that again. Here is the definition of free will: That concept of the will, whereby the will of man is regarded as autonomous, independent, and undetermined, and thereby is capable of willing either good or bad, apart from any conditioning by a moral or religious character.

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• Now, I'm going to explain this definition to you in just a moment, but in case you are not clear on what the definition really means, listen to the words of Erasmus, who believed in free will. Here's what Erasmus said: "Free will is the power of the human will by which a man may apply himself to those things that lead to eternal salvation, or turn away from the same." So what did Erasmus say? Will yourself to be saved or you can will yourself to turn away from it. It's just that simple. That is free will. Now, let's go back and just think about this definition for a moment. The definition of free will is that concept of a will whereby the will of man is regarded as autonomous and independent and therefore capable of volition, either good or bad, apart from any conditioning by moral or religious character.

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• First of all, I want you to understand that that definition denies the biblical doctrine of total depravity and total inability. It views man as autonomous and undetermined. According to that definition, man is not totally depraved. He is still capable of willing either good or evil. I was talking one time to a Free Will Baptist preacher, and I asked him, "Do you believe in total depravity?" He said, "Well, of course I do." I said, "You do?" He said, "Yes, I believe that man is totally depraved everywhere except his will." I looked at him, I said, "Sir, if you exclude one area, it's not total. I said what you believe in is partial depravity, not total depravity." So if you follow the definition then, that definition then is an outright denial of the doctrine of total depravity. No one who holds to the doctrine of free will can believe in total depravity.

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• Isaiah says, "From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it." Paul, the apostle, says we're all gone out of the way. There's none righteous, no, not one. There's none that doeth good. We're totally and completely depraved.

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• Secondly, I want you to notice in this definition, it does away with the absolute necessity of conviction by the Holy Spirit. Listen to this: "That concept of the will, whereby the will of man is regarded as autonomous and undetermined, and therefore capable of willing either good or bad apart from any conditioning by a moral and religious character." In other words, man does not need to be convicted by the Holy Spirit. He is quite capable of turning to the good by himself. So not only does the definition deny the doctrine of total depravity, it also does away with the necessity of Holy Spirit conviction.

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• Thirdly, it views the will of man in abstraction from the whole man. Listen to me carefully, and I want to prove this, I hope, before I finish today. The will of man is not supreme. The will of man is not sovereign. What I am going to show you from Scripture is that the will of man is in bondage. It is in captivity to his sins, to his lusts, to his desires, and to his thoughts.

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• So what is free will? Free will is a theological concept, basically, that teaches that man can will himself into heaven, that he can initiate his salvation, or that he can save himself, or help save himself, or if he so chooses, he can turn away from it. Now, before I explain to you freedom of will, I want to show you and demonstrate the impossibility of the concept of free will. The absolute impossibility.

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• I'm going to give you four simple thoughts. I'm going to show you why there cannot be free will. If free will exists, then for that will to be free, there must be at least a minimum of four things. What are they? First of all, there must be an awareness of the alternatives to be chosen. If your will is actually free, there must be an awareness of the alternatives to be chosen. In other words, it must be able to discern between the alternatives.

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• Let's talk about the sinner now. Here's a sinner. What does free will say? Free will says he's able to turn to God or he's able to turn away from God. OK, so there must be—for free will to be free, there must be a discernment of the alternatives available. Well, right at the very beginning, we have a problem. Well, what is that problem? The problem is there is a vast difference between intellectual knowledge and spiritual saving knowledge. So here's the sinner. We say he's got free will.

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• "Do you want to go to heaven? You want to go to hell? You want to love God? You want to love the devil? Tell me which one you choose right now." Well, for his will to be free, he must be able to distinguish between the alternatives. And I said right here, we have a problem. What's the problem? 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 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." Fallen man does not have the ability to discern spiritual things. 2 Corinthians 4 verse 4 talks about his eyes being blinded. Do you remember what our Lord said in John 3 and verse 6? "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." How can you choose something that you don't see? That you don't understand?

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• That you're not even aware of? And you cannot possibly be aware of it unless you've been regenerated. So for free will to be free, there must be an awareness of the alternatives to be chosen. This problem is insurmountable because you cannot choose that which you do not know. You cannot choose that which you do not understand or see. The second truth is this: For free will to be free, there must not only be an awareness of the alternatives to be chosen, there must be a reliable criterion to distinguish the best alternative. There must be a reliable criterion to distinguish the best alternative. Let me ask you, as Christians, what is our criterion for everything? Word of God. For the unsaved, what is their criterion? Their own corrupt minds. Now.

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• Look in your Bibles, I want to show you turn to Ephesians chapter 4. Watch carefully these words, Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians 4. And let's begin reading there with verse 17. Ephesians 4, verse 17. Look what the Apostle Paul writes. Ephesians 4, verse 17: "This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind." And the word vanity means the uselessness, the worthlessness of their mind.

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• Now he tells you why it's so useless and worthless: "Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart."

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• Now, I don't know about you. But to me, that shows you very clearly that man has a problem. There is no reliable criterion. Look in Colossians 1 and verse 21. Colossians 1 and verse 21. What's the Bible say? "And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works." Look in the book of Titus chapter 1 and verse 15. Titus 1 verse 15. Look what the Bible says. Titus 1 verse 15: "Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled." Now can an unsaved man have a reliable criterion? No.

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• He has his own corrupt, depraved reasoning. And that's it. He's ignorant of God. So there is no reliable criterion. Watch now. For free will to be free, there must only be an awareness of the alternatives. There must be a reliable criterion. But thirdly, there must be an actual will to choose and to seek the best. So let's go back to our illustration. Here's a sinner. Let's suppose I tell him about heaven, I tell him about hell. Let's suppose I even give him a reliable criterion, I give him the Bible and I show it to him right here. There it is, choose one or the other. But the third thing is he must actually have the will to choose and to seek the best alternative.

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• Now let me ask you a question. Will a sinner by nature choose that which is right, holy and godly? Or will he choose that which satisfies his own wicked thoughts, his own lustful desires and his own evil propensities? Let me illustrate it. Here's the sinner that we say who has a free will. I sit there. And I tell him about the alternatives, but you've got to remember now there's a difference between saving knowledge and intellectual knowledge. I give him a reliable criterion and I show it to him right out of the Bible. And then I say to him, "Sir, you've been a drunk over the last 40 years. I tell you what I'm going to do.

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• I have right here in my hand—and in one of my hands, an Oxford wide margin, leather bound King James Bible that cost me 140 bucks. I will give you this King James Bible or I will give you this fifth of whiskey, whichever one you want." Would you please tell me which one that drunk is going to choose? He's going to choose the whiskey. I don't care if the whiskey is five bucks. I don't care if the whiskey was 20 bucks. Why will he choose the whiskey?

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• Because of the way he thinks and because of his evil desires. And his will, therefore, is controlled by his thoughts. By his sins, by his desires, by his lust. Listen, the will of man is not some little abstract thing floating around somewhere in the universe. The will of man is tied to his desires and to his thinking. The will never acts first. As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.

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• We think, we desire, and then we do. Man's will cannot be viewed in abstraction. Man's will is bound to everything that he is. For free will to be free, there must be an awareness of the alternatives. There must be a reliable criterion. You must have the will to actually seek and to choose the best alternative. But fourthly, for the will to be truly free, it must have the power to achieve that which it chooses. It must have the power to achieve that which it chooses.

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• Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles to John chapter 6, because I want to show you another problem with the concept of free will. I'm going to explain this in just a moment, but let me show you the problem. Let's suppose I give the man the alternatives—please keep in mind, there's difference between saving knowledge and intellectual knowledge. I give him a reliable criterion and I show it to him from the Bible. And let's suppose he does say, "Well, yea, I do want to be saved. I do want to go to heaven. I don't want to go to hell." What's the fourth thing absolutely necessary for free will to be free?

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• You must have the power to achieve or accomplish that which you choose. And look what our Lord says in John 6 and verse 44. John 6 and verse 44, our Lord says it like this: "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day." No man can come unto me. Now, here's my question. Suppose I give the man an awareness of the alternative. Suppose I show it to him from the Bible. Suppose he does say, "I want it." Does he have the power in and of himself to come to Jesus Christ? What's the answer? No. No. How can you have a free will if you cannot accomplish that which you choose?

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• And by the way, I hope you understand that "can" is a term of ability. "May" is a term of permission. You could say to me or you may ask me, "Pastor, can I play that piano?" I would respond, "You have my permission if you have the ability." There's a difference between those two things. Men are invited to Christ and men may have that invitation to come to Christ. But that does not mean they have the ability and the power in and of themselves to come to Christ. What does the Bible say in Romans 8 and verse 7?

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• "For the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." So very obviously, man cannot accomplish that which he chooses. He does not have the power to do so. It is almost impossible for me to comprehend how anyone could hold the concept of free will in light of the Scriptures. Nowhere does the Bible teach free will, that man can initiate his own salvation or man can cooperate in his own salvation. Now the Scriptures do indeed teach freedom of will, which is a vastly different concept. Let me tell you what freedom of the will is. Freedom of will is simply the truth that everything is free to act out its nature. Within certain limitations. Here's what freedom of will teaches: that everything is free to act out its own nature within certain limitations. Let me explain it like this: a bird is free to be a bird. A bird is free to fly in the air, but he's not free to fly under the earth.

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• There's a limitation on him. A fish is free to be a fish. A fish is free to swim in the water, but he's not free to swim in the air. Isn't that simple? Do you realize a sinner is free to sin? He's free to act out his nature. He's free to do that which his nature is made of, and that is sinfulness. The nature of the entity is the limiting factor. A sinner is free to sin, but he's not free to do that which is holy and right. Why? Because he's limited by his nature. He can only do that which his nature allows him to do.

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• If you want a good picture of man, picture this in your mind. Here's a man in a small dungeon, four walls. He's chained and shackled by his hands, his neck, his feet. That man is free. What? He is free to move as far as his chains and shackles and his dungeon walls will allow him to move, but no further. That's a sinner. He's free to move and free to act and free to do whatever his nature allows him to do, but no further now.

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• Why? Because his will is bound to his lusts. And a sinner is not going to do anything other than what his lusts and his desires will dictate to him.

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• Now, many years ago, there was a Puritan pastor by the name of Thomas Boston who wrote a book entitled "The Fourfold State of Man." That book is still available. It is a wonderful book, and I would certainly encourage you to get it and read it. But Thomas Boston points out the problem that most of us have in understanding this concept, because most people who believe in the doctrine of free will still postulate a Garden of Eden type scenario for man throughout history. The only problem is, we haven't been in the Garden of Eden for over 6000 years. Now, what Thomas Boston has done, and I'm going to summarize his book in about five minutes, OK, what Thomas Boston has done is he has showed you in this book the fourfold state of man. If you understand anthropology, the doctrine of man, you must consider man in four different states. And man is totally different in each one of those states.

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• He is not the same and he cannot be the same. He considers man in the Garden of Eden, which you and I would probably call innocence. Then he considers fallen man, that is, man in nature. Then thirdly, he considers man in grace, that is converted and regenerated. And fourthly, man in glory or in heaven. And man is different in each one of those four states. For instance, in the garden, Adam did have free will in the sense that he was mutable.

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• Now, let me explain that. You've got to remember that Adam was created with original righteousness and original holiness and knowledge. Although Adam was a perfect man in that sense of the word, he was mutable. Adam could please God. He had the ability to please God, but he also had the ability to displease God. That's what the word mutable means. He could change. By the way, you must remember this, that Adam was in a perfect environment. There was no sin. There was no rebellion.

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• There was no peer pressure. And in that perfect environment, Adam used his will to sin against God. If he sinned against God in a perfect environment, what fault do we have in an imperfect environment with sin in our nature and sin on our mind? The point I'm trying to make is this, folks. It's not free will we need, it's free grace. Now, here's Adam. Adam was totally different from any man that ever lived. He could please God or he could displease God.

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• What did he do with his will? He sinned against God. What happened when Adam sinned? He became a fallen creature. Now he is man in the state of nature or a fallen man. He is now no longer perfect. He now no longer has original righteousness, holiness and knowledge. What did God do? God drove him from the garden. God put a curse upon him. What did Adam lose? Adam lost his ability. He no longer had the ability to please God.

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• He not only doomed and damned himself, he doomed and damned his posterity. You know what the Bible says in Romans 5 and verse 12? "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." When did all sin? We all sinned in Adam. Adam is no longer mutable. He's fallen. He no longer has the ability to please God. He's a sinner. He's wicked. He has a sin nature. Sin is imputed to him. And the very evidence that he's a sinner is he died. Romans 6, verse 23, "For the wages of sin is death." What happened to all of Adam's posterity? We were now born into sin. We were born with a sinful nature. We were not born with a blank tablet—tabula rasa. No, no, no, no. We did not start out in this world innocent.

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• We are not our own Adam, as Pelagius taught. No, you know, the Bible says that in Psalm 58 verse 3, "The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies." We were born with a sinful nature. Let me go back and quote Romans 8 verses 7 and 8. If you want to turn there, turn there. I want you to understand this. This is man in nature. This is not man in the garden. We are no longer in the garden. We have fallen. We have sinned. We rebelled.

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• We're under the curse and the wrath of God. Look what he says in Romans 8 in verse 7. I've already quoted it once today, but here it is: "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh"—help me out now—"they that are in the flesh" what? "Cannot please God."

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• What can fallen man do? Nothing. Zilch. We've lost our ability. Not one thing we can do to please God. You say, "Well, we can turn to Him." We can't even do that. We don't have the will to turn to Him. So here's man in the garden and now man in nature. Man in nature is totally different from man in the garden. Thirdly, there is man in grace. What does God do? God sovereignly and mercifully comes along and saves us. He regenerates us. He converts us. He renews our minds. He restores our knowledge.

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• He gives us holiness and righteousness. Now in the state of grace, guess what? We can now please God. Isn't that wonderful? The Bible says, in 2 Timothy it is, that "no man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier." Now in Christ Jesus, we have the ability to please God again. I'm thankful for that. But you know, there's still a problem, although we've been saved by grace through faith. We not only have the ability to please God, guess what? We also have the ability to displease him by disobeying him. Now, man in grace is not the same as he is in nature. In nature, man cannot please God. In grace, now, man can please God, but he can still displease Him as well. And then when you get to the fourth state, glory, guess what? Our wills are fixed.

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• We will never, ever sin again, nor will we ever desire to sin. Nor will we ever will ourselves out of glory. No. See, man's totally different in those four states. And what most people want to do is say, "Well, man today is just like Adam." No, he's not just like Adam. There's nothing about us that is like Adam. We're all sinners and we now have a sinful nature and therefore we sin. We are not born our own Adam.

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• Now, fallen man always wishes to think that he has free will in spiritual things, even though he knows that he does not have free will in natural things. To me, this kind of blows my mind. You can see it on the one hand that you don't have free will over here, but when you talk about salvation, oh yes, there's free will over there. Can anybody in this room will himself to be fat? No, you can't. Not just willing.

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• Can you will yourself to be thin? Can you will yourself to have a head full of curly wavy hair? Can you will yourself to be handsome or pretty? Can you will yourself to be rich? The answer is no.

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• Now, it is true that our wills may be involved in some of those things. If I want to be thin, yes, I must will and determine I'm going to go on a diet and stay on that diet. But I cannot, by just a simple act of my will, will myself handsome, rich or thin. You know you can't do that. And yet people think that somehow they can just will themselves to be Christians.

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• And to be in heaven. No, it just does not work like that. Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles, John 5 in verse 40. Here is the standard verse. By the way, I have two hours of messages on John 5 and verse 40, so I'm just going to summarize those two hours in about two or three minutes, OK, but here is the verse that most people interpret as meaning free will. Look in John 5 and verse 40.

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• Our Lord looked at these unbelievers and he says, "And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life." "And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life."

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• Now most will take this text and mean that you could come if you will to come. And therefore, man has the ability to come, which flies straight in the face of what our Lord said in John 6 in verse 44: "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him." Now it is true that our Lord looked at these unbelievers and said, "Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life." But let me show you what our Lord is saying in the context. The context does not teach free will. The context teaches bondage of the will. For instance, look in verse 32. Our Lord begins by giving witnesses concerning himself. He says in verse 32, "There is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true." Now, look what he says. "Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth. But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I say, that ye might be saved.

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• He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light." Now, our Lord said, "You want to know who I am? Well, John the Baptist can testify. He told you who I was. He said, 'There's the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.' And you were willing for a time to listen to John the Baptist, but not for long." So here's the witness of John the Baptist. Look in verse 36: "But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me." Now the second witness that Christ has is his works.

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• He went about doing good. All of his works testify to the fact that he is the Son of God. So as the witness of John, he has the witness of his works. Verse 37: "And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not." Now the Father has testified of Christ. So he not only has the testimony of John the Baptist, he not only has the testimony of his works, he now has the testimony of the Father. Now look in verse 39: "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me." Now it's the Scriptures that teach who he is. So he has the testimony of John the Baptist, he has the testimony of his works, he has the testimony of his Father, he has the testimony of the Scriptures.

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• Now he says in John 5 verse 40, "And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life." What is he saying? He's not saying you have free will to come. No, he says, look how you are bound in light of clear plentiful evidence—in light of the testimony of John the Baptist, the testimony of my works, the testimony of the Father, the testimony of the Scriptures—your will is still locked in rebellion and you will not come even though you have the truth. That's what he's saying. This is not a verse for free will, this is a verse against free will.

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• You see what the context is? Now, let me just give you an illustration. What God does in salvation is God works against our nature. What is the most natural thing for a sinner to do? Sin. Now, listen to this. Suppose my phone rang at two o'clock in the morning. And you were so excited and you said, "Pastor, Pastor, you've got to get out of bed and you've got to come over to my house. I've got something you just got to see."

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• And I say, "What is it?" You say, "Water is running down the hill in front of my house." I say, "But you woke me up to tell me that I need to come see water running down the hill in front of your house. I've seen water run downhill hundreds of times. I'm not interested," and I'd probably be upset that you woke me up at two o'clock in the morning just to tell me that. But if that phone rang at two o'clock in the morning, you were all excited, you said, "Pastor, Pastor, please come to my house. I've got something I bet you've never seen in your entire life." "What is it?" "Water is running uphill. And it's running uphill without a generator, without a power source, it's running uphill on its own." I'm ready to go see that. Because it's the nature of water to go downhill. It takes a miracle of God for water to run uphill on its own. See? You call me at two o'clock in the morning, you say, "Pastor, you need to come here to my house."

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• "Why?" "I've got something you need to see." "What is it?" "Here's a man who's been beating his wife. He's a drunk. He's cussing. He's vile. He's ugly." You don't need me to come to your house and see that. I see enough of that every day. I say, "I've seen drunks before. No, thank you. I don't want to see." But if you call me at 2 o'clock in the morning and say, "Brother Weaver, you need to come over here." "Why?" "Well, Brother Weaver, I've got a man here who used to be a drunkard. He used to beat his wife and cuss and swear and ugly and rebellious. And guess what? Now he's cleaned up. He's changed. He's worshiping Jesus Christ. He rejoices." And so do you see something?

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• There's a difference in the nature. It was natural for him to be a drunk. Natural for him to cuss and beat his wife and be rebellious.

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• Now, all of a sudden, here is something supernatural. He's changed. He's acting contrary to his nature. That's the work of God. That's a miracle. Now, watch this. The question is this. Our text said, "My people shall be willing" when? "In the day of my power." Now, listen to me, folks, it takes the power of God to make us willing. You came to Christ, you willed to come to Christ. But who made you willing? And the answer is God did. Now, you're going to ask this simple question of how does God make us willing to come to Christ? That's a whole different sermon. But let me just answer for you momentarily. The answer is God makes us willing to come to Christ

  #90 | 1:06:25 to 1:07:19 | cleaned

• by changing our thinking, by changing our desires, by changing our wants, and by releasing our wills from the bondage of sin that they may come savingly to Jesus Christ. Let me explain it. What God does is He exercises such a power over our mind that He changes our way of thinking and we see sin for its wickedness and awfulness. We see sin for its just deserts. And then He shows us the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the only answer to our sin. And He releases our wills from the bondage of sin so that we desire, we want Jesus Christ. We want to come to Him. We will to come to Him.

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• Yea, we run to Him. You know what God does? God does what every parent wishes he had the ability to do. Wouldn't it be wonderful if you have the power to change your children's way of thinking and thus change their desires, where they would look at that candy bar and that bowl of ice cream and say, "Yuck, sugar, fat. What I want me is some cauliflower and broccoli." Huh? That's what God does. God makes us want the cauliflower and the broccoli.

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• In the life of Jesus Christ. God changes our wants. God is the one that makes us willing to come to Christ. Yes, we all will to come to Christ. But it was God who made us willing. "Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power." I suppose the best illustration that I can give you is that of the two mothers who are sitting on the porch visiting, they were next door neighbors. And shortly, a teenage son walks out of the one mother's house. His shoes are shining.

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• He's in a suit, shirt, tie, hair neatly combed, fingernails clean, neatly trimmed, aftershave lotion on. Just a perfect picture of a handsome young man. He leans over and he kisses his mother and he says, "Mother, I'll be back by 11." The son walks down the stairs, gets in the car and drives off. And his mother looks at her neighbor and says, "Isn't that absolutely disgusting?" The other neighbor, shocked and horrified, said, "I'd give anything for my son to dress like that and to be clean and neat like that, what do you mean 'isn't that disgusting'?" "Oh, no, no, no." She said, "I'm thankful he's clean and neat.

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• But she said, "What disgusts me is simply this, that a little five foot two blue eyed blond haired girl got him to do in a week what I couldn't get him to do for 17 years." Help me out. What happened? His wants got changed. And what God does, folks, is this. He changes our wants. He renews our mind. He opens our eyes. He shows us the awfulness of our sin and the wickedness and the just deserts of our sin and then shows us

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• Jesus Christ and all of his beauty, splendor and glory. And He makes us want Him more than anything in the world. And when we come, we come willingly, eagerly, readily, and we bow to Him. And we give Him the reverent homage that He is due. It's not free will that we need. It's free grace, the grace of God that works in our lives and changes us so that we may come willingly to Jesus Christ.

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• "Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power." Let's pray. Father, speak to our hearts today. Help us, teach us, build us up in the most holy faith. Make us, Lord, everything that we can be and should be by Thy grace, for Thy glory. We ask, Father, that You would enable us to give Thee reverent homage today and recognize we are what we are only by the grace of God. Help us to give Thee praise in Christ's name. Amen.

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T04:06:04Z