The will of God - 1 John 2:1..

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. Very good, my dear brother, my dear sister, my dear soul. It is with a great sense of reverence that I speak to you, because if the words that I speak to you happen to be true and according to what is written, then the responsibility is removed from the shoulders of the one who speaks.

But rather, you have a confrontation with the one that is owner of the words and a great sense of reverence. Because if I do not deliver the scriptures as they are written, then there is a greater judgment upon the one who speaks from the pulpit. And may your soul be protected from the errors of men. Maybe your brother and my dear sister. And this opportunity, I want to speak to you, as I said, about the will of God that we are called there in verse 17, that the one who abides forever is the one who does the will of the Father, the one who...

goes into eternity, into everlasting days, is the one who does the will of the Father. And this is a very important part of this commandment that the Apostle has given us here in verse 15, not to love the world. This is the burden of the apostle for the church of the first century and also for the church through the ages that professing Christians that those who call themselves to be in Christ will not be taken captive by the things of this world and their affections, their hearts, their minds, their souls will not be captured by the things of this world, but rather that their hearts will be filled with the presence of Christ and the love of the Father. So I'm going to invite you, my dear brother and sister, to read with me from verse 15 there in chapter two, all the way to chapter two, verse 25 in chapter two, paying careful attention to the words of the apostle and to the context of the burden of the heart of this apostle, which is the burden of the Spirit of God for his church. Addressing, of course, as I said, that topic of the will of God.

Let us read together. This is the Word of the Lord, 1 John 2, verse 15. I'm reading from the English Standard Version of the Bible. This is the Word of the Lord. Do not love the world or the things in the world.

If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and the pride of life is not from the father, but it's from the world. And the world is passing away along with these desires. But whoever does the will of God abides forever. Children, it is the last hour.

And as you have heard that Antichrist is coming, so now many Antichrist have come. Therefore, we know that is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. They went out that he may become plain that they are.

They all are not of us. But you have been anointed by the Holy One and you will have knowledge. I write to you. Not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ?

This is the Antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one denies the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. Pay attention to verse 24.

Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If that what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he made to us or to you. And that is eternal life. Amen.

This is the reading of God's word. My dear brother and sister, as I said, I want to speak to you about that very important topic of the will of God. And more importantly, I want us to consider what is that that we ought to do to do the will of the father. Because we're told very clearly there in verse 17 that he who does the will of the father abides forever. And that close that we have there in verse 17 is a vital part of the commandment that the apostle is given to the church, as I mentioned there in verse 15, not to love the world.

This apostle has a burden for the church. This apostle has a burden for the Christian, that the Christian will not be taken in his or her affections by the things of the world. So in this portion of the scripture, the apostle will present to us a contrast, a separation between two different realities. One that is the reality of the world, and that compared with the reality of the Father. As you can see very clearly in verse 15, the Apostle presents to us the side of the world and the side of the Father.

He who loves the world does not have the love of the Father in him. There are two types of people in the world. Those who have been taken in their affections, in their passions, their souls, their minds have been taken captive by the world. And hence their hearts, their souls are filled with love to the things of the world. And those who, by grace and by the presence of Christ and the completed work of the Lord Jesus Christ, have the love of the Father in them.

Not because they are able to love the Father, but rather because the Father loved them first in Jesus Christ, and now they are able to love the Father in return. Their hearts are filled with that love. And my dear brother, my dear sister, I want you to see the burden, not only from those verses, but from the context of the things that we have read and the things that we have read even in the past, that the Apostle cares for the affections of the Christian. The apostle is concerned with that which takes place in the heart of who professes to be in Christ. The apostle is concerned with the affections of the soul, the depths of the mind.

If the mind of the person is easily taken captive with thoughts and constantly resides and abides in the things of the world, then the love of the Father is not in that person. If the love of the Father is something just that we remind from time to time, and it's just something that we do on Sundays or when we have a Bible study or when we have religious activities. But the characteristic of the soul of the person is that the affections and the soul and the heart is taken by the things of this world. Then, my dear brother and sister, as I said to you last time that I had an opportunity to address you from this pulpit, we cannot come to the conclusion that that person is in the Lord Jesus Christ, but rather that that person is in this world and belongs to this world. My dear brother and my dear sister, I want you to see there very carefully, not only the contrast and the intensity of the command of the Apostle, but how he speaks of love of the Father and love of the world.

Because everything comes down to that. What do you love? Do you have affections for the one who you say that loved you and gave himself for you? Because if indeed you have affections for him, for Jesus Christ, then your life, your mind, your thoughts are going to be the evidence of that sentiment, of that feeling, of that emotion, of that passion, of that affection in the depths of your soul. And here, as we have seen here very clearly now, my dear brother and my dear sister, we have another comparison that is done between those things that are in the world.

We're told in verse 16 that everything that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life is passing away. is temporal, and that is compared with the eternality of the one who does the will of the Father. Did you pay attention to that there in verse 17? The passing away of the things of this world that belong to the system of the world now is passing away. And that is compared, my dear brother and sister, with the eternality or with the eternity of the one who does the will of the Father.

And my dear brother, my dear sister, it's very important that you remember that this chasm, this separation, this contrast that the apostles present to us here is not so much between God the Father and just this abstract system of the world. But if you remember, this world is this system of darkness that is ruled and governed by Satan himself. The comparison that we have here is between the things of God and the things of Satan. And everything that is not of God and everything that does not proceed from God is of the world, according to verse 16. And hence is in the realm and in the power of the person of the one who is in control of the world, that according to 1st John chapter 5 verse 19 is?

Satan, the evil one, is the one that is in control of all of this system of the world. Very importantly, as our brother reminded us today, and as I said to you a month ago, this system of the world that is governed and that is ruled by Satan, my dear brother and sister, is not so much a threat to us just because he's outside of us. But this system of the world is a threat to the Christian because Satan and this system has a representative, an ambassador inside of us that is still the presence of sin. It does no matter that the Lord has saved us and redeemed us until the moment of glory, until we do not die and taken up to glory. The presence of sin will remain still in us and the presence of sin becomes and is an ambassador, a representative of this system of this world.

So this world that we are not to love has a drawing power to us that is inside of us. Hence, my dear brother and sister, it's very important that we will understand what it is to do the will of the Father. Because if we're not doing the will of the Father, then my dear brother and sister, whose will are we doing? The will of the flesh, the will of darkness, the will of Satan, the will of sin, the will of God, everything that is not of the Lord. And I hope that you would have seen there the importance of the statement that we have in verse 17.

Because when the Apostle speaks about the will of He who does the will of the Father, the Apostle is speaking about genuine salvation. He who does the will of the father is the genuine believer. Yes, we read in the scriptures extensively in the New Testament that salvation is by grace through faith, and it's not of works, that there's nothing that we need to do to receive the righteousness of Christ. But here, very clearly, my dear brother, my dear sister, we have. The person who does the will of the father connected and taken into eternity abides forever.

And as we read there, if you paid attention to verse 24 and 25, the abiding forever is abiding in community or in communion better with the Lord Jesus Christ and with the father. He who does the will of the father is the one whom the spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ has genuinely visited him or her and transform his or her life. And this person is a genuine believer. Because even though, yes, salvation is by grace through faith, faith is never alone, but rather it's a faith that is powerful, that moves us to do the will of the Father. Hence here, the seriousness of the text and the seriousness of the topic, my dear brother or sister, of what the will of God is.

And of course, this is not only the sentiment or this is not only the idea or the doctrine of the Apostle John, who was seated at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ through his understanding and learning. These are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Do you remember the story, my dear brother and sister, when the Lord Jesus Christ was teaching to the multitude and then his mother and his brother will come to ask and then just to wanted to speak to the Lord Jesus Christ and someone comes to the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember the story right in Matthew, Chapter 12 and say, here we have your mother and your brother. They're asking you want to speak to you.

Matthew, Chapter 12, verse 46 to 50. What does the Lord Jesus Christ say, said, Who is my mother and who are my brothers? And then He stretches out His hands, my dear brother and sister, the Lord Jesus Christ, who knows the hearts and the depths of the soul of the person. He stretches his hand and he points to his disciples. And then he says, these are my brothers and sisters, or these are my brother and my mother.

He who does the will of my father in heaven is my brother, is my brother or mother. My dear brother and sister, doing the will of the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ is being in a communion and a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. The one who does the will of the Father is the one who is family with Christ. And my dear brother, my dear sister, if the Lord Jesus Christ comes here and someone comes to ask Him to go and speak to them, Can and will the Lord Jesus Christ lift up his hand and point to your heart, to your soul, the one who knows all things, and say, This is my brother. This is my mother.

The one who does the will of my Father is my brother and sister." Will the Lord Jesus Christ, here present, knowing the depths of your souls, knowing the depths of your hearts, knowing the things that you have done, the things that you have treasured up in your heart and in your mind, will He do the same that He did with His disciples? Because, my dear brother and sister, Christianity is not about being seated in this place, in a chair. It's not about a practice. There's simply things that we do from time to time, or things that we have just grown used to do for the last 15, or 20, or 25, or 30, or 40 years.

Yes, I was raised in a Christian family, and I do not know any other way. And I need to come to church on Sunday, because otherwise my parents will be upset. But rather, my dear brother and sister, genuine Christianity is the life of Jesus Christ so mightily manifested in the heart of that person that the one who knows all things, that the one who knows the secrets and the depths of the soul of the person can point to that soul and say, he or she is my brother. He or she is my mother." There is a genuine fellowship with the one who died upon the cross, and a genuine fellowship with Him is that which moves that person to do the will of the Father.

May the Lord help us, my dear brother and sister, because the same Lord that pointed to the disciples in Matthew chapter 12 to say, these are my brothers and my sisters, those who do the will of the Father, is the same Lord that says in Matthew chapter 7, verse 21 onwards. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of the Father in heaven. Many will come on that day and say to me, Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in your name? Didn't we do mighty works in your name? Didn't we cast out demons in your name?

And you remember, my dear brother and my dear sister, the words of the Lord, right? I never knew you. Depart from me, ye workers of inequity, workers of lawlessness. The Lord is saying that those who will enter into the kingdom of heaven are those who do the will of the father, that those who are the brothers, the sisters, the mother, those who are in family, in relationship, in intimate relationship with Christ will necessarily do the will of the father. And on that day, when he comes to expose and to reveal the hearts of men and women, and especially of those who call him Lord, Lord, Everything will be on the table, and he will discern the hearts and the ways of every one of us here present and within the sound of my voice.

And might the Lord have mercy upon this church and the people within the sound of my voice, that none of us will hear those words from the Savior who knows all things and who know the depths of the heart and in the intentions of the heart of men, because we are called to live in him, my dear brother and sister, and to do the will of the father. Then what is the will of God? If I'm supposed to do the will of God, am I supposed to live my life doing the will of the Father? May be your brother, may be your sister, may be your soul. What is the will of God?

Let me elaborate or come to the doctrine of the will of God by starting from a lexical point of view. That is just the meaning of the word. And from the meaning of the word will work our way to the concept of the will of God so that we will understand what the will of God is and how we are to do the will of God. The word will, my dear brother and sister, just simply means desire. Every time that the word will is used in the New Testament, it can also be used with the word desire.

If you remember your readings in First Corinthians, Chapter 12 and in Hebrews, Chapter two, verse four, in which the apostle and perhaps the author of Hebrews is writing about the spiritual gifts. He says that the spirit of God distribute the spiritual, the spiritual gifts as he desires or as he wills. More clearly, that statement of that use of the word will is used in Hebrews 2, verse 4, that the same spirit that worked mighty works and wonders distributed the spiritual gifts as he desires, as he wills. Just from the meaning of the word will, we are to think about a desire. And of course, that is not only used for God and for the Holy Spirit, but that is also used for men.

If you remember the story of the sons of civity or perhaps the mom of the sons of civility that came to the Lord Jesus Christ to ask to have the children of her children on the each one of the sides of the Lord Jesus Christ in his kingdom. The question of the Lord is, what do you Will or what do you desire? Ask, what do you will? What do you desire? So when we are going to think about the will of the Lord, at least we need to have a category in our mind to consider the desire of God.

So we know that just from the meaning of the word, a will is a desire, an intention that God has. But my dear brother, my dear sister, if you consider we use those words, desire or the will of God as the desire of God, you will see the many complications that we have put in these words to define and to give these characteristics of God puts us in very difficult places and difficult questions will arise. How come a God who is self-sufficient, who knows all things and who has all things? How can God have a desire? How can God desire something?

If in everything, in and of himself, he's sufficient, he does not need absolutely anything outside of him, and he knows absolutely all things, and there's no information that he gains or that he obtains, how can God then desire something? The other word is, what does God desire? My dear brother and sister, every time that you have a desire, there is something that you want to know or something that you want to obtain. Yet, every time that we read in the Scriptures, the word, will, attached to the Lord, speaks of His desire. Well, my dear brother and dear sister, of course, there's a very complicated thoughts and very complicated questions that the Christian church has struggled and have difficulty answering through the ages of speaking of what does God desire and what does God need that is not in himself?

And, of course, it will be very difficult for us to answer that question just with words, with doctrines. But let me point you, my dear brother and sister, to a passage of scripture that speaks to us about the will of the Lord and the purpose of the will of the Lord. And that helps us understand what the desire of the will of God is. And that is, of course, found in Ephesians chapter one. If you come with me there.

To Ephesians chapter one, you will remember the powerful and mighty passage there in which the apostle Paul will speak to us about the will of God, the will of God. So in your Bibles, please go to Ephesians chapter one and let us consider together. This mighty and powerful passage there that speaks about the will of God. I'd already help us and guide us and give me the light to explain these brethren so that we will see the will of God. Remember it.

The only thing that I'm just trying to do here is just to present to you what the will of God is. from there to move to what the will of God is for your soul, and then how to do the will of God. If we're going to understand how to do the will of God, we need to understand what the will of God is, brethren, right? We need to understand what the will of God is. In this passage here, my dear brother and sister, we have those verses from verse three to verse 14.

Many times the apostle will refer to the will of God, to the purpose of God, even to the desire of God. And I want us just to simply read those verses from verse three to verse 14 and make some important comments that will point us to a more robust understanding of the will of God beyond just simply a desire. Verse 3 of Ephesians chapter 1 says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love, He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, pay attention, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us in the beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of his will according to his purpose, which he, God, set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things. In Him things in heaven and things on earth.

In Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ may be to the praise of his glory in him. You also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation and believed in him, were sealed with a promise. Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the price of his glory. What does God desire? What does God ultimately desire, my dear brother and sister?

God desires the praise of His glory. And this is the words that we find here in that verse 14, to the praise of His glory. And the Apostle Paul, my dear brother and sister, from the very beginning, even before the foundation of the world, through all things that have been created to eternity that is to come, makes it very clear that everything is for the praise of the glory of God. At times, dear brother and sister, we're very quick just to speak that word, glory, the glory of God. But everything that God ultimately desires is the exaltation of His name and the praise of His glory.

And to that, all my dear brothers and sisters, Calvinist and Reform will say, Amen. And that is very true. And that should fill our hearts, my dear brother and sister, to think of the glory of God being the purpose of the will of God. Absolutely everything that God desires and absolutely everything that God wills is with the ultimate purpose of God's glory. But we're told something very important here in this passage that is important that we consider and that we pay careful attention to.

There's a couple off characteristics that we are told and we're given here about the will of the father that I think and I hope will help us to comprehend better this intention of God of glorify himself in his will. One of the first things that we see there, my dear brother and sister, if you pay careful attention, is that this glory or that this will of the Father that points to His own glory was a mystery. Did you catch that? Did you see that in verse 9? That was a mystery.

It says, if you read from verse seven in him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which that is his grace. He lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight. Pay attention to verse nine, making known to us the mystery of his will. The will of God that we are to do If we are genuine believers, remember 1st John chapter two, he who does the will of the father abides forever. That will of the father was a mystery, and that mystery has been made to someone.

Did you pay attention to who? To us, speaking to the church, it says in verse eight, which he lavished upon us in all wisdom, his grace referring to his grace, according to if you read in verse seven once again in him that is Christ, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace. Now his grace is the one that he lavished upon us. And the way that He lavished upon us His grace is given there wisdom and insight. And this wisdom and insight, verse 9, is to make known to us the mystery of His will.

Brother and sister, who is the only one upon this earth who can know the ultimate, Purpose of God's will that is to glorify himself. Who is the only one upon this earth that can know that? Who knows that? Who is that person? Who?

The Lord Jesus Christ has revealed that to the church, brethren. The church, he has made known that to us through the grace. It is only the Christian, my dear brother and sister, who, by the grace that has been lavished upon him or her, has now a genuine understanding of what the will of God is for the ultimate glory of the Father. And not only an understanding, as the apostle will say there in verses 15 onwards, but rather, my dear brother and sister, this is an empowerment. You see, my dear brother and sister, Christianity is not just the simple practice of the simple thing that I call myself to be a Christian.

And I put myself into this set of principles and rules that I do from time to time. But rather, this is a visitation of the one who created heaven and earth. This is a revelation with His Spirit. Before, this was a mystery. It was unknown to me, the will of the Father for His ultimate glory.

But when the grace of God has been lavished upon me, then the insight, the illumination, the revelation that I have is now that the glory of God has to be given entirely to Him, or the glory has to be given entirely to Him. Completely unable to comprehend and understand. That's why the one who is dead in his or her trespasses does not only not understand the things of God, but is completely unable to glorify God and lacks desire to glorify God, but rather to glorify himself or herself and the things of this world. Because it's only the Christian, to the Christian only, this mystery has been revealed and made known by the grace of the Lord. But the apostle continues, my dear brother and sister, because this will of the Lord, which is to glorify himself, ultimately that has been revealed to the Christian has a purpose that has been set for in someone.

If you pay attention there in verse nine, making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, and this purpose he set forth in Christ. Verse nine. As I plan the purpose of his will, brethren, the purpose of the will of God, which is to glorify himself, has been set forth in a person, and that person is Jesus Christ. And that is as I plan, it says. Verse 10.

As I plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. How is God the father going to ultimately be glorified when all things come to an end? When the final decree of the Lord of the last of the days come to an end, when the final day is revealed? How is the glory of the father of this mystery that was before a mystery and was we were blind to it that was revealed to the Christian? How is this mystery going to be ultimately revealed?

Not in a manifestation of things, which even though there's going to be a powerful and mighty manifestation of things, my dear brother and sister, but rather this plan is set forth in the person of Jesus Christ. God ultimately glorifies himself. in the person of Jesus Christ. And this plan that we have there in verse 10 is the plan for the fullness of time. Brethren, what does that mean?

When the times are complete, when the times come to an end, this plant of this mystery of the will of God to glorify himself are portrayed and we can see it in the person of Jesus Christ. It is in him. You know what the Apostle has said from verse 3 onwards? Who are in Christ? Brethren, who are in Christ?

It says in verse 3, "...Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ." with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him in love. He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will." Verse 6, "...

to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has blessed us in the Beloved." My dear brother, my dear sister, there is going to be a day in which the God, the creator of heaven on earth will receive all the glory that he deserves. And that glory is not going to be manifested in the magnificence of all the things that he has made. The glory that it will be revealed is not so much seen in the heavens and the earth and the depths of the universe and the galaxies and the countries and all of these things that He has made, the nations and the waters and the animals and all the creatures of all sorts and all types, that they are beautiful and they have all these sorts of wisdom and shapes and colors. The glory of God is not going to be revealed in the things that we observe, even though they do reveal and manifest the glory of the Lord.

But when that day arrives and when that day comes, my dear brother and sister, in Christ, God will be glorified because of the salvation of your soul. If you did not pay attention there very carefully, brave your brother and sister. Every time that the glory of God is praised, He's attached to the salvation of the lost. Pay attention there to verse 5. He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will.

to the praise of His glorious grace." He predestined us for adoption to the praise of His glorious grace. Go to verse 11, my dear brother and sister. In Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him, who works all things according to the counsel of His will. Speaking of Christians, brethren, so that we who were first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of His glory, is that the redeemed Christian might be to the praise of His glory.

And then he says in verse 14, who is the guarantee is speaking of the Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance, the inheritance of the Christian until we the Christian acquire possession of it. And when we acquire possession of it, it will be to the praise of his glory. My dear brother, my dear sister, the God who deserves all praises and all glory because of the things that He has made, because of His wisdom and all the things that He knows, and all the things that He has controlled and governed through history. On that final day, we'll receive glory and blessing and honor and riches for the salvation of your wicked and righteous soul. You who know all the things that you have done, you who know the things that you continue to do, and all the judgment that you deserve, this God who is loving sent His only begotten Son to die upon the cross, that by giving you of His Spirit, you will believe in Him and will be united to Him, so that on that day, the praise and honor and glory that God deserves will be given in Christ because of the church.

What is the will of God? The will of God is His ultimate and final glory in the person of Jesus Christ through the redemption of His church. And absolutely, my dear brother and sister, absolutely everything that takes place up to that point helps or works for that ultimate purpose. Absolutely everything that happens in this world, absolutely everything that happens in your life, absolutely everything that happens in your mind, everything that happens to your family, absolutely the darkness and even the blackness of this world. All of it is under the sovereign hand of this God, and all of it is pointed for the ultimate glory of God in the person of Jesus Christ, not detached, not separated, but in glorious union of the redemption of your wicked and righteous soul.

You understand, brethren, that you did not deserve to be saved. I did not deserve to be saved. I did not deserve to receive the light of Christ. I did not deserve to receive the love of God, yet He died upon the cross to rescue us. And on that day, brethren, that day, have you seen the heavens?

Have you seen creation? Have you gone down to the water and have you seen the fish and the colors and all of the majesty of all of those things? Have you gone online and seen the universe and the galaxies and the planets and all of the depth and the majesty? And that is my vocabulary. I don't know what else.

The depths of the universe, brethren, all of it will not be the reason for the glory of God. But it will be the redemption of your wicked soul in Christ Jesus. This is the will of the Father. And then, brethren, absolutely everything that takes place and absolutely everything that is required of your soul is pointing and is leading and is guiding to that purpose. Everything, the sin that we see in the world, the darkness that we see in the nation, that all absolutely everything, the disease and the sickness and the infirmities of the flesh, all of them are governed.

You don't understand. I do not comprehend. I don't know the reason, the temporal reason. But one thing I do know, and that is that in the last day there will be someone who receives the glory that he deserves. And this is the triune God in the name, in the person of Jesus Christ and by his grace.

and found in him. And my hope is that your soul is found also. So then maybe your brother and sister, everything that the Christian does today is pointing to this ultimate purpose. So what is the will of God for you? Come to Philippians chapter one, because the same apostle here will connect the ultimateness.

And I hope that that is a word. You know, the the ultimateness, you will understand what I mean of the decree of the law with the temporality of it. Philippians chapter one. What is the word that you say for ultimateness that I'm making up is a word. OK, Philippians chapter one.

Brethren, you know, this verse Christians know this verse a lot. You know, Philippians chapter one, even you don't have to read it. What is the verse that I'm going to refer to? No, Philippians Chapter 1, that's Chapter 2. The one who began a good work in us, right?

This is a very good verse that we all know, verse 6. It says, if you remember, brethren, in verse 6, And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. When? When, brethren? At the day of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He's speaking of the eschaton, speaking of the end. He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion of the day of the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is that the hand of the Christian is in or the life of the Christian is in the hands of the Lord, that the mighty God that created all of these things is in us through his spirit working in us in such a way that what he has planned for us will be brought to completion. That is the glorious sight of the eternal decree of God. But in the same mind of the same apostle, as he progresses through these lines of Philippians, he is going to call us to something very important.

So let us read verse six in context. It says, verse three, I thank my God in all my remembrance of you always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy because of your partnership in the gospel. From the first day until now, and I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. Now, it says, it is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me. of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense of confirmation of the gospel.

For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. May he give us that reality in our hearts, brethren, one for the other, that we may yearn one for each other with the affection of Christ Jesus. Verse nine. And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, brethren, The apostle in verse six, brethren, brethren, the apostle in verse six has confirmed the absolute reality that the person who is a genuine believer will be brought to completion, right? He said that.

The one who has begun a good work in you will bring it to completion, and he knows that the Lord will accomplish that. Yet in his prayers, on his knees, in the way that he lives his life, he's praying to the Lord so that the saints will increase presently. presently in love. Now, are the Saints going to increase in love and in conformity to Christ? Yes, because that's what he has said in verse six.

But yet the apostle is moved to his knees to ask that the Saints will increase in love. Verse six of verse nine. It is my prayer that your love may abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment so that you may approve what is excellent and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ. But Paul, you have already said in verse six that he will bring the work to completion. Yes, but the reality is the eternal moves the person to his knees to bring alignment of the heart of the will of the heart to the will of the father.

Yes, we know that the work will be brought to completion. But again, we go to our knees to say, Lord, complete your work. Lord, bring me until the end. Lord, make me grow in love. Lord, give me conformity to Christ.

That is what it says in verse 10. So that you may approve what is excellent and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ. Pay attention to this. Filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through or in Jesus Christ. For what, brethren?

To the glory and praise of God. This is what he said in Ephesians chapter one. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing, even as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless and that to the praise of his glory. What is the will of God for your life, my dear brother and sister? Those whom He predestined, Romans 8, verse 28.

Those whom He predestined, He also conformed to the image of the firstborn, the Lord Jesus Christ. That we will be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. Those whom he has predestined, he will also conform, my dear brother, to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is the will of God, he says in Thessalonians, right? What is the will of God, my dear brother and sister?

Your sanctification, that you will grow in conformity to Christ. that you will die to self. Remember your life. Remember your ideas. Remember your thoughts.

Remember your plans. Remember your everything that you've done. Remember the many years that you've been carrying your own self upon your shoulders, that you will die to self. You think that this message sells? You think that this message is good for the world?

You think that this message is appealing to the ears of the carnal mind? It's not, brethren, because those who are in the flesh decide to live in their own lives. But yet Christianity calls us to take up our cross and to follow Him, not to live our lives for self. Not to live our life for our own plans, not to live our own lives for our own ideas, for what we want to do, accomplish, but rather to die to self and to grow in conformity to the Lord Jesus Christ, to be conformed to him. In the words of the Apostle Peter, he gives us a very clear explanation.

If you go to First Peter, Chapter four, First Peter, Chapter four. This is what the Apostle Peter says about. But the will of God for your soul, brother, sister, the will of God for your soul, if you're a Christian, what is the will of God for my life? What does he desire for me? He wants this in verse one of chapter four, first Peter, it says since since therefore Christ suffered.

The apostle uses suffered to speak of the death of Christ, since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh. Arm yourselves with the same way of thinking for whoever has suffered in the flesh or die in the flesh or died to sin. The apostle means has ceased from sin, has to live for the rest of the time in the flesh, no longer for human passions, but for the will of God. The Apostle says in Thessalonians, and this is the will of God, your sanctification, that you will keep yourself from sexual immorality. It says there, Brethren, salvation is by grace through faith.

We received the Lord Jesus Christ when we first believed. And from that moment onwards is a process of conformity to the Lord Jesus Christ to die to self, to die to our desires, to die to the passions of our flesh. That we will no longer live for the passions of the Gentiles, as the apostle says, but rather that we will live for the passions of the will of Christ, of Christ himself in us. And that, brethren, requires death. That requires destruction.

That requires that that which you have built will be destroyed. That that requires that what that which you love so much in the flesh will be destroyed. That requires that you say the things of the world do not love the things of the world, nor the things that are in the world. Because if you love the things of the world, the love of the father is not in him. Now, we're not saying that the things of the world are wicked or evil in and of themselves.

I'm not saying that we are to sell over all things and live in the jungle in a box away from society. What I'm saying is where the affections of the heart recite and abide. Because how do we do this will, brethren? How do we do this will? We do it from the heart.

Come with me very quickly to Ephesians chapter six. Ephesians chapter six. Ephesians chapter 6, here the Apostle is speaking about bond servants. The context of the passage is specific for bond servants, but the Apostle speaks something about the reality of the heart of the Christian, or the expectation of the heart of the Christian. In Ephesians chapter 6, brethren.

If you go to verse five, the apostle is given these exhortations, these directions to Christians who were slaves or were servants of other people. He says, bond servants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling. You're there, right? Ephesians chapter six, verse five bond servants, obey your earthly masters with fear. and trembling with a sincere heart as you would Christ, not by the way of eye service as people pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.

Brethren, brethren, this is not about doing because it is about doing. You know, the apostle says he who does the will of the father is not about doing here. I'm sorry about the ones that only listen to the audio that get the clarification with the hands. It's not about doing out here. He's doing, brethren, from here.

Because it is about doing. It's not about only this faith that is abstract, that abides in my mind, that I call myself a Christian, and I have put myself the label of, I believe in Christ. But rather, it's a faith that actually moves the person to do. It is to do the will of the father. That is that the one who has received this illumination of the mystery of the will of God, that is the ultimate glory of God in the person of Christ through the redemption of his church.

And this person who is so touched and moved by the fact that he was or she was a sinner and now has been saved by his grace, that this person will not be able to keep himself, but rather just go and do the work of God. Just the faith will move that person in works of love, in works of grace, in loving one another, in serving one another, in being spent for Christ. If before then your talents, your time, your money, your efforts were for building yourself an empire and reputation unto your name, now your time, your efforts, everything of you is for Christ himself and for his church. Not in separation, as those who will say, I serve the Lord, but I don't serve the church. No, my dear brother and sister, because the glory of Christ ultimately is in the redemption of the church.

That's why we're to love one another. That's why we're to serve one another. That's why we're to spend our lives, one for the ministry and the service of one another, and for the lost. That the love of Christ will compel us so powerfully that will move us in greater manifestations of Christ in us, my dear brother and sister. How do we do the will of God?

How do you do the will of God? You, my dear soul, are questioning yourself. How do I do this will of the Father? Come with me to Matthew chapter 7. I'm from the fearful exhortation that the Lord Jesus Christ gives to these people in Matthew chapter 7.

We learn a couple of things. Matthew chapter 7. How do we do the will of the Father? You remember the passage, brethren, right? Matthew chapter 7, verse 21.

Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, you remember that passage, right? Let us read it and remember it. I promise that I will finish in the next 10 minutes or so. Verse 21. Verse 21, it says, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, pay attention to every word, brethren.

Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. But the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do mighty works in your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness."

Now, brethren, pay attention to where the Lord Jesus Christ is here. The Lord says in verse 21 that those who will enter the kingdom of heaven are doers, right? That's what he says. That the doer is the one who enters into the kingdom of heaven. You understand when I say doer?

The one who does things, right? The Lord says in verse 21 that only the doer will enter into the kingdom of heaven, right? Now, the others come as doers, right? They were doing things. They are doers.

And the things that they are do that they are doing are things of the Bible, right? Of Christ, of things of religion. They are. They say we are doing mighty works in your name. We are prophesying in your name.

We are casting out demons. They say we are doers. But the Lord says, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom, but the doers will be the ones that enter into the kingdom of the Lord. What is the problem? These people are doers and are doers of things that are religious.

The problem is what happens in verse 33. It says, I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. There are many things in that verse, but only to pay attention, please. The first one is that they were not known by Christ.

There can be external works that are done. But if these external works are not the result of a genuine fellowship in the heart with the Lord Jesus Christ, then it does no matter what you do. It does no matter, brethren, that I come here and I preach a sermon every Sunday. It does no matter that we put chairs or that we do whatever. If the things that we do do not come from a genuine encounter with God that has transformed the heart of that person, then that person falls into the category of these doers Matthew chapter seven who are not known by the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Paul says in Galatians chapter four and I think it's verse five or onwards. So they're in chapter four that it is not that we have known God. Remember the passage is not that we have known God, but rather that he that he has known as first that we are known by him. We require the divine knowledge of our souls. That's why salvation is by grace.

It's a visitation of the Spirit into our souls. That is the first part, knowledge of Christ. But the second is what he says here. You are doers of lawlessness. Now they came and say, We have prophesied, we have cast out demons, we have done all of these mighty things in your name.

And he said, Depart from me, you workers of iniquity, or you doers of lawlessness. He says, only the doer of the will of the Father will enter into the kingdom of heaven. And these hypocrites that have come here are doers of things that go against the word of the Lord. Because that is what lawlessness means, my dear brother and sister. These people who were doing all of these external things in the heart were going against the word of the Lord himself.

Christ is the logos. Christ is the word of God. Christ is the one that takes habitation in the heart of a person. And when Christ takes habitation in the heart of a person, then the one who wants to please the father will take this book. treasure up this word in his or her heart and leave his or her life according to what is written, not in the power of the letter, but in the power of the spirit.

When the spirit of God takes what is written in this book and puts it into the heart of the soul, then that person in the depths of the soul of that person, then that person, him or her, will be able to be a doer of the will of the father. Can a person be a doer apart from this book of the will of the Father? Never, my dear brother and sister. Never, ever. Because the genuine believer has been visited by Christ.

The heart of that person has been taken possession by the King of kings and Lord of lords, who is the Word himself. And he will make them doers of the Word. Come with me very quickly to Romans chapter 12, please, there, because in Romans chapter 12, then we see what we ought to do to do the will of the father. And you, of course, remember the passage, right? Romans chapter 12.

Now, brother. Listen just to and perhaps we can just finish with this. Romans chapter 12. The apostle says to the church. I'd appeal to you.

Therefore, brethren, and you know, like the power of that word appeal, I beseech you, brethren, you know, like from from the inside, like a supplication, like a mother to their children or father to their children. I ask I supplicate, I beseech you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. Brethren, is the apostle saying to save your life and to exalt your soul? No. Rather, he says, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.

In other words, to die to self, to present yourself as a sacrifice that is going to be consumed, that is going to be spent. It says there, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. That is how God is worship is by the given over the given up off our bodies in living sacrifice to the Lord. Then he says in verse two, Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing you might discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect, or the will of God that is good, acceptable, and perfect. Do not be conformed to the world.

Not speaking to non-Christians, brethren, but speaking to the church. Do not be conformed to the world. But rather, he says there, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. The renewal of the mind of the Christian with a constant and ongoing outpouring of what is written in this book is what prevents us, my dear brother, of being conformed to the passions of our former ignorance. As Peter will say in First Peter, Chapter one, verse 14 and onwards.

Do not be conformed to the passions of this world by filling the mind and the heart with the Word of God, by treasuring up the Word of God in our hearts that we might not sin against Him. And you know what the apostle says there? That you might test and discern what is the will of God, good and acceptable. That you might test and discern. Because, my dear brother and sister, as we remain in this present time, we live in times in which we are to growing maturity, as the apostle or the writer of Hebrews will say in Hebrews chapter 5, verse 12 and onwards.

We're to growing discernment of the things that we see and observe. You think that you are capable or good enough to discern righteousness from unrighteousness? If you think that you are, my dear brother and sister, let me make you a favor, do you a favor. And it's that you are not. You depend upon this book.

You depend upon the word of God constantly being given and poured into our hearts to discern the ways of this world, to discern the ways of wickedness, to discern our own hearts, to discern our own intentions, that we will not be conformed to the world. And that we will be able, my dear brother and sister, to follow the example of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because what was the will of the Father for the Son? That He will do everything that the Father gave Him to do. And the Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled absolutely everything that the Father gave Him to do.

And it's in the example of Christ that we are to walk and to follow. fulfilling the work that the Lord has given us until the end of our days, even if that means that we're going to die now or that we're going to die in five minutes, in 10 minutes tonight, tomorrow or next week, that we will be found, my dear brother and sister, walking in the ways of the Lord with our minds set on things above and not on things of this earth, that we will know, yes, that he who began a good work in us will bring it to completion. But at the same time, dear brother and sister, that we will continually strive. to grow in fruit of righteousness in Christ for the glory of the Father. And then when we open our eyes and we see our brothers and sisters, that our desire will be that our brother, that our sister, that that person who has been purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ will walk the same way of conformity to Christ so that when he comes, glory will be given to his name.

Praise will be given to his glory for the redemption of a people unto himself. From every tribe, every nation, every tongue. So my dear brother and dear sister, the call is to give up and to surrender, to give up to self, to the thoughts and the minds that we think that we're good or enough. And the one that is not in Christ, that is the call. Today is the day of your salvation.

The one that is just seated there in that in that chair that knows that is not in Christ. Today is the day of your salvation. Today is the day in which Christ is coming to you to come to Him, that you will surrender all the arms and weapons of your flesh and that you will come to Him. Because when you come to Him, He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion, to the praise of His name. Amen.

Okay, let's pray.