God has expressed His heart's desire for "A man after Mine own heart, which shall fulfill all My will," Acts 13:22, and has had that wish gratified by the Blessed Lord Jesus, who said, "I delight to do Thy will, O My God (Psa. 40:8); "I seek not Mine Own Will, but the Will of the Father which has sent Me." (John 5:30).
"Father, if Thou be willing... not My will, but Thine be done." (Luke 22:42).
"I came down from heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the Will of Him that sent me." (John 6:38).
"Who gave Himself for our sins... according to the Will of God." (Gal. 1:4), and taught His disciples to pray, "Thy will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven." (Matt. 6:10).
No adverse will in the Man Christ Jesus ever warred against God's Will -no sinful thought, or selfish desire ever marred the fragrance of His life. Distressing circumstances only served to display the perfection of His heart; His acquiescence in the Will of God He sweetly expressed, "Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight." (Matt. 11:26).
To those He has redeemed, He reveals that marvelous delights flow to them from the Will of God, declaring that "Whosoever shall do the Will of My Father which is in Heaven, the same is My brother, and sister, and mother. (Matt. 12:50). Thus He proclaimed the endearing character of spiritual relationship, using dearest natural ties only, to illustrate the Holy intimacy between Himself and His own—dearer than the dearest, nearer than the closest of natural ties. Inasmuch as "He stretched forth His hand toward His disciples," saying, "behold My mother, and My brethren," we are assured that the company of His redeemed He would have in the enjoyment of loving intimate association between the Savior, and His saved ones.
His sustainment, "my meat is to do the Will of Him that sent Me" (John 4:34), is also the needed food to nourish the believer's life. As a test of faith's reality our Lord has declared, "Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the Will of My Father which is in heaven." (Matt. 7:21). His words assure every truly trustful soul that the Will of God secures eternal safety, "this is the Father's Will which hath sent Me, that of all which He hath given Me, I should lose nothing... this is the Will of Him that sent me, that every one that seeth the Son, and believeth on Him may have everlasting life," (John 6:39,40). It is on record (Psa. 40:6-8) that no service (sacrifice or offerings) could compare with our blest Exemplar's submission to God's Will, for God's "esteem," and our Lord's "delight." Believers, too, find their "delight" in such subjection to the Will of God as Isa. 58:13,14 describes: "if... thou shalt honor Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words, then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord."
God's blessed Will respecting all believer s, the scriptures as a whole, abundantly testify: "Predestinated to the adoption of children, according to the good pleasure of His will.' (Eph. 1:5). "Saved, and called with an holy calling... according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began (2 Tim. 1:9). Teaching also "the mystery of His will"... His own purpose to fulfill His pleasure, in having all things gathered together in Christ, in heaven and on earth, in Whom we have obtained an inheritance, after the counsel of His own will, "to the praise of His glory." (Eph. 1:9-12).
Those "born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:13), learn the certainty of their blest relationship to God, for He declares, "Of His own will begat He us by the word of truth" (James 1:18), that knowing "the pleasure of His will" (Eph. 1:5),— "the mystery of His Will" (v. 9) —"the understanding of His Will" (Eph. 5:17)—the subjects of His gracious purpose may be found "doing the Will of God from the heart" (Eph. 6:6), as set apart (sanctified),—"for this is the Will of God, your sanctification" (1 Thess. 4:3)—"by the which will we are sanctified" (Heb. 10:10), unto well doing, "for so is the Will of God" (1 Peter 2:15); unto suffering "according to the Will of God" (1 Peter 4:19); encouraged by the prospect that having "patiently done the Will of God," receiving "the promise" compensates. (Heb. 10:36).
The "proving" of God's "good, acceptable, and perfect will" (Rom. 12:2), is conditioned upon the "presenting of our bodies a living sacrifice,"—being "filled with the knowledge of His will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding" (Col. 1:9)—"standing perfect and complete in all the Will of God" (Col. 4:12) "Rejoicing evermore," praying "without ceasing," "in everything giving thanks, according to the Will of God concerning you." (1 Thess. 5:18).
Be assured, dear fellow-believer, that such compliance with God's Will is unattainable by merely personal resolves or endeavors; but how surely you may rely upon the Spirit's "intercession according to the Will of God" (Rom. 8:27); and you may depend upon "the power that worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure." (Phil. 2:13). A guarantee of full compliance God has written; its terms are simple, yet exclude every dependence other than the enabling it affords for faith's humble appropriation. Take it to your heart, abandon yourself to its blest direction, and prove the happy outcome,-"Perfect in every good work to do His Will, working in you that which is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ; to Whom be glory forever and ever." (Heb. 13:20, 21.) Rejoice that "He that hath begun a good work in you will perform it." (Phil. 1:6.)
For example other than the Blessed Lord, the Word testifies of the Apostle Paul: "The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldst know His Will... thou shalt be His witness." (Acts 22:14, 15). Self-will he abandoned when he cried, "Lord, what wilt Thou?" (Acts 9:6). His apostleship by the Will of God, he recited in five of the Pauline Epistles—even his journeying by the Will of God, (Rom. 1:10), (Rom. 15:32), is on record. His Corinthian converts, we are told, "gave their own selves to the Lord...by the Will of God"; and surely the Holy Spirit is able to accomplish the Will of God in His children now, as in the time of the Apostle.
For clear views as to sound doctrine we have but to heed John 7:17, "if any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine." Heartily subscribing to the solemn fact that there is but one sovereign will in the wide universe—that God has looked upon One who sacrificed every worldly advantage—Himself also—for His will—that, in the light of the Word, we see humble followers of Jesus yielded to the Will of God—that Adam's fall was due to self-will—that the essence of sin is self—pleasing; "Christ pleased not Himself,"—so the measure of the soul's obedience to the Will of God is Christ.
There will be no self-will in heaven, and there only, true happiness is known. Nothing but self-will in hell, and consequent weeping and wailing. Such realities should impress our souls to spurn the offers of the prince of darkness, remembering that every time self-will governs, we pay the fare, as Jonah did. It is costly to renounce our own wills, only as we fail to anticipate the eternal advantage; —
"He that doeth the Will of God abideth forever." (1 John 2:17).
"After he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise." (Heb. 6:15).
"The glory that shall be revealed in us," (Rom. 8:18).
Meanwhile, here and now, we have the blessed assurance that "all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose." (Rom. 8:28.)
The calm of a soul which reposes in the Will of God is unspeakable. The Savior said, and we may say, "I delight to do Thy will"; delightful words to His and our loving Father's ear. Thus do we gratify His desire that full compliance with His blessed will be truly evidenced by our lowly subjection, and our happy acknowledgment that thus blessing is assured. Amidst all life's uncertainties, may we keep in view the sublime stability of which we have our God's assurance.
"My counsel shall stand, and, I will do all my pleasure... I have spoken, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I also will do it. (Isa. 46:10, 11).
E. J. C.