Address—Ron Klassen
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Last night Brother Caleb spoke on God's thoughts of his son, and he spoke quite at length of the will of God, and that's what's on my heart to speak of tonight. So you'll forgive me if I recover a little ground that he did. We'll just call it refresher course.
Or an underlining Let's ask the Lord for his help.
Our God and Father.
We thank thee for that day.
That's just before us.
Well, what an important day.
When I beloved son.
Will be exalted.
Both in heaven and earth that day, Lord Jesus, when those of us that know thee will see the face to face the day we're waiting for.
Nor God as we tread this wilderness path and we are so thankful for this Oasis in it.
This fellowship we do praise Thee and thank thee for Thy goodness to us, but we do pray as we open thy precious word, that.
We would hear that from myself. That would be a help to us in regard to our pathway here. Help us to take heed to it. Father, we pray, We ask Thy health and Speaking of it and clearness, we pray that it might be of practical help even to the young.
But we seek thy undertaking, our God and Father, and thank you that we can, for we ask it in the precious name of the Lord Jesus, Amen.
Just out of interest here, you know, when I was you guys his age on the front row, we, I'm not sure where it came from, but we were passed around a little cassette tape. You probably don't know what those things are, but we listen to that thing until we wore it completely out and that cassette tape was, I don't know what you call it.
Anyway, it was a lady who.
Read or really abridged the story of Man's Soul? Have you ever seen that book Man's Soul? Have you?
Could you raise your hand? I'd be interested to see how many.
Now I see a lot of the older ones, maybe not so many young ones. I know Uncle Steve a few years ago got a bunch of copies and he might still have them.
You know, I never read the book, but that tape was maybe, I guess we listened to it for its entertaining value, but we realized it's an allegory like Little Pilgrim's Progress. You can learn some things about it. You can learn about what goes on inside here and why.
Well, you know in in that.
Talent of man's soul. It said that the whole town kowtowed to the winds.
Of will and mind.
The whole town.
You know when you think of that.
That's quite a thought.
Each one of us here tonight has a will.
I found that out especially, you know, when I had my first born.
About six months into our time together, boy, one night.
It was really a struggle. Here's this little guy and he can't crawl or walk or talk or anything, but wow. I mean, there was something that was well developed and that was his will. And I realized I came against something that though he was little, this thing was big and I wasn't able for that.
Because he's here tonight, I'm going to, I'll add that that's changed. And well, it's, it's been, it's come under the Lord's control and he's a delight.
But each one of us have that will, and to think that that will controls our mind, our thoughts. Have you ever heard this expression? The key to the opening, the the, the breaking of the will of our wills is the key to the opening of our understanding.
Because our will is controlling our thoughts.
You know, there's things that we we don't want to know because our wills doesn't want to know them. And so it it doesn't accept it and doesn't see it honestly doesn't see it because will and mind are in control as we come into this world naturally. So I said I wanted to speak about the will of God. But let's first look at a verse that that talks about this very truth in Ephesians chapter 2. I'm going to read it in Mr. Darby's translation because it brings it out in regard to the will.
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Ephesians chapter 2.
And verse one and you was talking about us being dead in your offenses and sins in which he once walked according to the age of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air. That's Satan the Spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom we also all once had our conversation in the lusts of our flesh, doing what the flesh.
And the thoughts willed to do. And we're children by nature of wrath, even as the rest.
This verse tells us that all of us, even those of us who by grace know the Lord Jesus as our Savior, we once were, controlled by what our will and our lusts wanted to do in our mind. And you know, that's just where Satan wanted us.
He is very happy for us to do just what we want to do. Have you ever heard this statement?
Liberty of the Will.
Is slavery to the devil?
Remember that statement? If I could just do what I wanted, that would be sure that I would be a slave to Satan. He's very happy if I'm pursuing my own will.
But let's look at a better will.
Go to the back up to the first chapter of Ephesians.
Ephesians One, and verse 9. Having made known unto us the mystery of his will. This is talking about God the Father, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself. What is it that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, he might gather together in one, or head up all things in Christ which are in heaven?
And which are on earth even in him in whom also we have obtained an inheritance.
Being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh. Now notice this, who worketh all things after the Council of His own will, that we should be to the praise of His glory.
You know, in the Old Testament.
Men and women didn't really know what the will of God was. I mean, they didn't know what his purpose was.
But in his goodness, he's revealed it to us in the New Testament. And he says, my purpose is that I'm going to exalt my beloved son, who we heard about last night such a wonderful way, and I'm going to put everything under his rule and dominion, and that's going to be a blessing.
And I'm working everything to that end.
Now that's quite a problem, isn't it? Because we come into this world and we want to do our will. And you know, our will is as we heard this morning, it centers around self.
The reason why I want to do what I want to do is because of how it affects me. So here we have how many billion people in this world? And all these wills? And then there's just this one will, this perfect will.
That's God.
As God and he's working everything to this end.
Now you might say, sure doesn't look like it.
This world is getting darker and going farther and farther away from God. There are things that your children are having to contend with School we never dreamed about. And you say that's God working all things after the counsel of his will. He is it's it takes faith, but God is working all things to that end.
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Now.
We know that he's revealed it to us. How much does it affect our lives?
You know, you say it's only sensible that if you know that everything is going to meet here and you're going over here, you're wasting your time, right?
More than wasting your time, you're going to end up defeated and in sorrow.
But, you know, just because we know about something, many of us know things, but they don't necessarily govern our life, do they? And in that same tape of man's soul, there was a character called Unbelief. And, you know, they said Unbelief gave him an opportunity to, to surrender to, to.
You remember who it was, but to the Lord and he said, I don't remember the exact words, but to give myself unreservedly to a power that's beyond my control. Never. Never.
And that's what our will says, doesn't it? You mean to just give the reins, to just say, I, Lord, I want to do thy will if that's what you purpose, I want to work to that end.
Oh, there's a struggle inside that says, but what if? What if he doesn't do what I want him to do? Or what if he does something that I don't want him to do?
You know that's where coming to know our God.
Comes in if you knew, if you really were convinced in your soul that his will.
Let's go to the next next verse in Romans chapter 12.
Again, you might say that's scary because if God as God is working everything towards his end.
What's that like? Because that's going to affect me. Indeed it is. Well, let's see what it's like.
Romans chapter 12 and verse one. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice.
Holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service, and be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. You see, there's the mind changed, that you may prove. What is that Notice good and acceptable and perfect.
Will of God.
The apostle Paul here is saying after these first 11 Chapters of Romans, when you learn the heart of God, His love that's unbounded, when you learn his grace.
His mercy, His goodness.
I beseech you, by that yield this, this body you know, because it does what the will wants it to do. Yield that to the Lord Jesus as a living sacrifice.
Because I want you to know. I want you to know. I want you to prove in your life the blessedness of that will. How that.
It's what, three things? It's good.
You have it.
And accept.
Acceptable. What'd you say?
Nice it is, and perfect.
There's a verse that tells us that all things work together for.
Good, Very good.
All things work together for good to them that love God. And so we can say by faith, I know that what the Lord is allowing in my life, it's for my good.
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There's also a verse that says, As for God, his way is.
Perfect.
Very good. And so I can say again, well, faith would tell me God, I can take God's word and it says that God's way is perfect. But there's a word in there that's you might think, why is that in there acceptable?
You know, I know there are some in here that have gone through.
Some deep sorrows.
And I may say that I know.
That the way the Lord is taking with me is good because he said so. And I know it's perfect and someday I'll see that, but right now I'm having a hard time accepting it.
Well, you know, he says to us, it's acceptable.
It is acceptable. You don't have to struggle with that.
Just let your will go in mind and someday you'll see. You'll be so glad.
That I chose your pathway for you.
So what an encouragement to our hearts, what an incentive that this will that's going to be carried out. It's good and it's acceptable and it's perfect. And you can you and I can say, Lord, take my body. I want it to be yours. I want my life to count. I want it to be a blessing to others and I want it to be a joy to you.
Let's turn to Matthew chapter 6.
Well, here.
The Lord Jesus is telling his disciples how to pray. Verse 7. But when you pray and then he says.
Verse 9 After this manner, therefore pray ye our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy Kingdom come. Now notice this, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.
He told the disciples.
Pray.
That the will of God will be done on earth like it is in heaven.
You know I have a son.
In heaven.
And because of that, I'd like to learn all that I can.
About heaven and this is one of the things that it tells us that the will of God.
Is done in heaven.
Isn't that wonderful?
We know it's not being done on earth. Think of the disparity between heaven and earth and what the Lord Jesus feels as he looks down on this earth where every man's doing his own will, which ends in such sorrow because in heaven it's that we sing. Sometimes all the mind in heaven is, is one because it's the will of God's being done. And so when we, he gives us a little glimpses into heaven, it's, it's all orderly. It's all.
Unity.
There's Harper's harping on their harp and so on. You know, I, I recently.
Read these statements, actually one of them, and heard the other one on a tape from Regina.
And I'll just pass this on to you. Who is this?
That paradise.
Like you know where the Lord said to the thief, today you're going to be with me in paradise? And Paul said he was caught up into paradise and he heard indescribable things that he can't pass on because they were too wonderful. The statement is paradise is not a place.
You know, that kind of woke me up.
It's the description of a place.
I love them.
That's the description of the place.
In other words.
It's just exactly what the heart, the renewed heart, desires and wants.
Sometimes we say, well, this is a paradise, you know, we can look outside and see the beauty today. Shalt thou be with me in paradise? It's the description of a place. Glory is not a place.
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It's a state or a condition.
Glory.
That's heaven.
That's where the will of God is done.
It's it's makes it paradise. It makes it glory.
Well, we might say, you know, that's wonderful, but.
I feel the struggles in doing the will of God. I wish I had an example before me that that I could see well.
We have that example before us last night, didn't we? The Lord Jesus says in Psalms.
I'm going to read it whether Caleb was quoted it last night so well, but I'm going to read in Psalms chapter 40.
This is prophetic of the Lord Jesus.
And he says.
#7 then said I lo, I come in the volume of the book, it is written of me.
Now this isn't what was written, he says in the volume of the book. It is written of me. And then he doesn't tell us what's written. It's just that book. He can look at that book and say.
The will of God.
Concerns me doing this, this and this and if we can say he he reviews that you say it reverently and what is his response? His response is I delight to do thy will. Oh my God, yay, thy law is within.
My heart.
We heard about what that will.
Was last night.
It took the Lord Jesus to Gethsemane.
And there was strong cries and tears. He poured out his heart to his father.
And the anticipation of it, because he knew what lie ahead of him, caused him to sweat.
But it wasn't sweat like we sweat today. It was great. Drops of blood coming out like sweat. I've never heard of any other man sweating like that.
Maybe it's happened.
But he was in such agony.
But that's what he swept with blood, not water. And he said, my father, if it be possible.
Let this cup pass from me.
Nevertheless, nevertheless not my will.
But thine be done.
You know the Lord Jesus had a will that was perfect.
Had he done his will? It was perfect, but it wasn't the Father's will.
And when when the writer of Hebrews recounts this verse in Psalms 40, it just simply says, I come to do thy will. Lord Jesus was delighted. Delighted. Did he know what lie ahead of him? Yes, he did. Then how could he say delighted in it? Because you know, he knew God. He was with him in the past eternity. He knew all his blessedness. He was God himself and he could say that will.
Know what that will is? It's blessed. I'm delighted to do that. But of course, when he came down, when he thought of being made sin, when he thought of being forsaken of God, when he thought of going into death, that awful place.
He shrunk back.
But then he said I, I did. I came to do the Father's will.
Think of him last night, brother Caleb said. Condensed. They confined.
Confined to a body of a baby. And I know we have to speak carefully here because he was God and he could say as a man here, even the Son of man who is in heaven, He's omnipresent, but still.
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Confined to time and sense and weakness, what did he do for 30 years?
Confined, He was the Son of God from a past eternity, and here he is.
That's part of the divine will. Why would he do that? Why would he delight in it all? Because he knew it's blessed.
Hebrews 12 Says Who? For the joy that was set before him? What was that?
To do the will of God. It was the will of God being accomplished.
He endured the cross, despising the shame and is set down on the right hand of God. You might say to me, well, that's the Lord Jesus. He's perfect. I'm not. I need someone. I need someone like me.
That could be an example. Well, you know, he gives us some. Let's turn to Acts chapter 13.
Verse 21.
And afterward they desired a king, and God gave unto them Saul, the son of Sis.
A man of the tribe of Benjamin by the space of 40 years. And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king.
To whom also he gave testimony and said, I've found David, the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, which shall fulfill all my will and then go down to.
Verse 36.
For David, after he had.
I'm going to quote this out of Mr. Darby's translation.
For David.
In his own generation, ministered to the will of God.
Though David, You say? David wasn't a perfect person. No, he wasn't. In fact, he fell into some very grievous sins. Why was he a man after God's own heart?
Why does suggest that? Because he had the will of God before him. God said he's going to do all my will. He's a man after my own heart.
I enjoy Mr. Garry's translation and apparently it's more accurate and it changes the the focus. It's not serving his own generation, rather he was ministering to the will of God in his own generation.
You know, when David lived, Saul was king.
And he was a man after the flesh, and in spite of all that David did for him by playing, by conquering the the Goliath who saw was powerless against.
In spite of all that David did for Saul, Saul hated him and wanted to kill him.
David in that time?
In his own generation he ministered to the will of God.
You know that to me is is a tremendous statement.
Imagine you and I as creatures being able privileged to minister, serve the will of God, to be used of God to actually carry out this will. This divine that's going to come about is going to be on display for the praise and honor and glory of our God for all eternity. You and I born in right now on this generation. I think brother Alejandro said, Jonathan's said this is the the me generation.
And so you young people are right now, you say, you know, to bring up the Lord's things and certainly to speak of, of resigning, not resigning, of handing over all to the Lord, of wanting his will. That's absurd in this generation. That's.
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It doesn't.
You'd be laughed out of town.
But you know you have the privilege.
Of ministering to the will of God.
In your generation.
I want to say to something about David, you know, there was a time when David said, Hey, I want to build a house to the Lord and his friend and prophet Nathan said excellent idea. Let's do it. Go ahead, do it. But you know, the Lord came to to Nathan that night and said, no, David isn't going to do that. His son will, but David can't. You know, part of the will of God and surrendering to it is.
There may be something that I want to do that is right, is good, and actually is for the Lord. Maybe you've experienced this. I have.
And the Lord says.
And that's hard.
It's difficult.
But you know what David did?
He submitted to that because he wanted the will of God. He was going to do all the will of God. And so he just prepared for it. And Solomon, his son built it. And so as we go on and we surrender our will to the Lord's will, you will prove, You'll prove that that could be improved upon. And I don't think we have to just wait until that coming day. There's many things that now, if I'm willing to submit my will to the Lord, I will see.
Even here, the beauty, the blessedness, the value of that will.
The Apostle Paul, he was another one.
You know, he says, follow me as I follow Christ.
But we know that in his unconverted days he thought he was doing the will of God.
And he was carrying out with a mighty hand, and the Lord arrested him.
And when the Lord arrested him on the road to Damascus, the first thing he said is, Who art thou, Lord?
And then what's the next thing? He said.
I am Jesus, who thou persecute us. Very good. That's how the Lord answered him. And then what did Paul say after that?
Lord, what will?
You said it.
What? Yeah. What wilt thou have me to do?
I know Mr. Darby says it's not there and the best manuscripts in the 9th chapter, but you can go to the 22nd chapter and he says Lord, what shall I do?
You know, that's the again, the, the, the will, Paul's will had blinded his mind and he actually thought he was doing the will of God, but he wasn't. He was going absolutely contrary to the will of God. And so when all of a sudden he realizes he's persecuting the very one that he thought he was serving.
He said, Lord, what are you doing?
You know our wills don't only end in sorrow and defeat when we try to live out our will.
They actually can be awful.
Paul's will resulted in Saints being locked in prison and slain. And he said, I don't want to do my will anymore. I don't. I want to do thy will. And so we're what a blessing we're reading together in Philippians.
And we read of a man who God is wrought with, a man who turned everything over to the Lord. It was just living for the will of God and all the the the precious things. We learn his heart for the Saints, his selflessness, his love for the Lord.
His willingness to die daily.
That came.
That was formed in him.
Because he had one thing before him, and that was the will of God.
Well, you might say.
You know, my schedule is such, my life is such. I have a bunch of obligations. I mean, things I have to do. So it's a nice thought. But I know what I've got to do tomorrow and the next day. Especially when you get to school, right? It's a nice break. The school's coming up.
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You might say my life is pretty well planned as far as me being concerned about doing the will of God. That may be more theory. Let's look at Ephesians chapter 6.
He's in chapter 6 and verse 5. Servants. Well, he's talking about slaves. Remember reading about slaves?
Could slaves do what they wanted to Ben?
Oh, why?
Who owned them, right?
Somebody owned them, now here's their instruction to them.
Slaves be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling and singleness of your heart is unto Christ, not with I service as men's pleasers, but as the servants of Christ. Notice doing the will of God from the heart. From the heart you know in Titus 2.
Paul writes and he says the servants, the slaves, you can adorn the doctrine.
I can endure in the doctrine. I can't even do what I want to do. I have to do what that man who owns me tells me what to do, he says.
You can still do the will of God and you can adorn the doctrine, because if somebody sees you who can't do their will and you're happy and you're rejoicing, and you're carrying out not your will, but somebody else's will cheerfully, all they say there's something here this I don't understand. They could adorn a doctor. And so none of us, you know, you may have a schedule.
That you have to do, but remember.
Even as you get up, pray.
Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? Because you may do the same thing that you did yesterday, but you'll do it in such a way that it's a delight to His heart and a joy to your own.
All of us.
Can do the will of God in our lives.
What you might say.
But you know, I have a hard time knowing what that will is.
Let's turn to John Chapter 7.
Verse 16.
Jesus answered them and said my doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.
If any man will to do his will, that's the will of God. He shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God or whether I speak of myself.
Mr. Darby says if any man will, to practice his will.
You know, all of us know what it's like to come to a crossroad in our life and we really don't have a will which way to go. We just don't know where which way to go. And we don't want to make a mistake. And so we can from our hearts say, Lord, what is thy will?
Well, this is talking about practice. This is talking about every day.
You know, some of those crossroads we wouldn't even come to if it was our habit and our purpose and our desire to do the will of God. And it's an encouragement, isn't it, that the Lord Jesus said, if you will to practice it, not to know it, but if you want to practice the will of God, you will know.
I remember Gordon Hayhoe saying you will never.
When you get to glory, be able to look at the Lord Jesus and say, you know, I really wanted to know your will so that I could do it. You wouldn't show it to me.
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He said that won't happen.
If it's my desire to practice his will to do it.
Regardless of what it is.
He'll make it clear to me.
But you know, he says about the doctrine here, he says you'll know whether the doctrine that you're hearing is of God or whether I'm just speaking for myself.
Few years ago I ran into a sister.
Who used to be gathered to the precious name of the Lord Jesus?
We loved her, still do.
And she didn't bring this up. I mean, I didn't bring this up. She did at some point in our conversation, she said, you know?
I'm not there anymore.
I don't know how that happened.
And she didn't say that just once. She said it a couple times.
Really, I don't know how that happened.
And I could feel the sorrow in her, her voice and the bewilderment.
Just this last week, a dear brother who I haven't seen for 25 years.
Came to my doorstep.
Again, he brought up.
The subject I didn't.
And he said the same thing. He said I.
I don't know how it happened.
It was, it was like.
He was thinking back, he said I.
How it happened?
I thought maybe he would say, you know, well, we just came to a point where we saw that that those gathered held doctrine that we couldn't go along with. And so we had, we didn't save them.
He didn't even say, you know, we were so offended by this thing we'll never forget. It was just too much. He didn't even say that. He said, I don't know why.
And you know what made me tremble?
Here they find themselves in the systems of men.
They don't know how they got there.
You know to to desire the will of God is a safeguard.
Because again, my will can cloud my understanding of my thoughts and I can find myself someplace that years later, I don't know how I got there.
Not scary.
But it doesn't have to be.
And if our Savior showed us that the will of God is worth living for.
Whatever.
Suffering, it requires. And you know, Peter says twice. If you suffer.
How does he put it?
If any man suffer according to the will of God, he says that twice.
The will of God very likely will bring us into suffering.
But all it's worth it.
To decide that I don't want to suffer, to decide that either something that I want. And it doesn't seem to be the will of God that I have it. And so I'm going to determine I'm going to go after it. I'll wish that I had.
In fact, let's turn to Revelation Chapter 4.
Revelation chapter 4 and verse 9.
And when the living creatures shall give glory and honor and Thanksgiving to him that sits upon the throne, who lives to the ages of ages. The 24 elders that represent you and I, that know the Lord Jesus as our Savior, as well as the Old Testament Saints, the 24 elders shall fall before him that sits upon the throne and do homage to Him that lives to the ages of ages.
And shall cast their crowns before the throne, saying.
Thou art worthy.
Oh, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power, for thou hast created all things, and for thy will they were, and they have been created.
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Isn't this blessed that God shows us the end of the pathway?
Lest there is any doubt in our mind that to do His blessed will was a lesser path, would be something that I would wish I hadn't done down the road, that I would miss out on something, He takes us to the end of the path. He shows us what's ahead.
He says.
You're gonna fall before me. You're gonna be fall before the Lord Jesus.
And you're going to set your crown. You're going to place it. No, you're going to cast it.
At his feet.
And say thou art worthy.
Because I was created all things.
For thy will.
Then we're going to see with such clarity.
The perfection, the beauty, the delight, the glory of the will of God.
And it will still strike our hearts that will be prostrated before Him and thank Him and praise Him that everything that was created, that you and I was created for His will.
I trust.
Our trust that our hearts have been strengthened.
To see the preciousness of the will of God.
That we'd really desire to do that, That we would pray.
That it might be so in our lives.
But we would seek grace from Him to ever surrender our will to His, with the confidence it will be delighted that we did, that we can have the privilege of ministering to the will of God.
Pray.
Lord, God and Father.
We thank the fresh tonight for the blessedness of Thy will. We thank Thee that Thou hast disclosed it to us.
And our God, we pray that by faith.
We would as we've sung in this song.
We would is yield to Thee that dollar. Thy Spirit would perfect in US every grace to do Thy blessed will. We thank the our God and Father for the anticipation of that day when we will see the perfection, the beauty, the glory, the wonder of that will. We ask for faith and grace to seek it and to walk in it now We ask it, Father, and give Thee thanks.
Seeking Thy blessing on Thy word and his worthy and precious name, the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.