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On May 20, 1998, I had left my aging parents in Shasta Lake City, CA (two miles from Lake Shasta), and was on my way down Interstate 5 to Sacramento Airport to fly home to Massachusetts. When I was about two thirds of the way, the Holy Spirit of God came upon me mightily, and I began to sing in the Spirit in English. The experience was totally overwhelming.
One of the stanzas of that song went like this:
The will of the Father, the will of the Son.
The will of the Father and Son.
Whatever He asks, yes all He requires,
Whatever He wills, we will do."
The song has not received rave reviews so far, but it has not been sung in very many places, either. However, I fear that it would not matter to very many Christians what words were formed, or style of music was used to express the concept which the Spirit of God expressed in this song. It appears that there are not many Christians around who are interested in that kind of commitment. However, God has in reserve a remnant which will do His pleasure, and, therefore, qualify to be part of "the election" among the Gentiles. I hope I am hearing many of you saying with a whole heart, "I would, I will!"
And just what is it that God has willed to be done in this end of the age of grace? He surely willed the coming of Jesus to arrange for the remission of our sins. He also willed the betrayal of Jesus; an absolute necessity to fulfill the prophecies of old, and to effect the crucifixion, death, and resurrection of our Redeemer. Jesus was willing to endure all of that to effect the remission of our sins.
Most of us, who have learned much of anything about Jesus (Matt. 11:29), are aware that He fulfilled a multitude of Old Testament prophecies (the will of God revealed) during His time here. However, most of us are not aware of the fact that the people, whom He appointed to carry on His work after He left, followed closely in His footsteps, fulfilling their volume of Old Testament prophecies in the will of God. Hear the bold words of the Apostle Paul in Colossians 1:25. "A dispensation of God is given to me, for you, to fulfill the word of God." Where is that kind of ministry and laity today? Paul's mission to the Gentiles was not an idea which God initiated in the New Testament era. In Acts 13:47, Paul and Barnabas boldly declared that their mission was the fulfillment of Isaiah 49:5-6, and that the prophecy itself was a commandment to them to carry the gospel to the Gentiles.
Please look with me into chapters 3, 4, and 5 of Paul's epistle to the Church at Ephesus, in which he names some things which God has willed for you and me to do before Jesus comes to resurrect the dead, and change the living to immortality, and go in to the marriage.
"I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, if ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: how that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power."
Here, Paul explained how that God had captured him for a special, and wonderful, and difficult work. He explained how he, and the other Apostles and Prophets, had been given the revelation of the mystery of how the Gentiles Christians were, by the will of God, to be "fellow heirs" with the Jews, and to become a part of the same body (the Church). He then showed us how that God had given him the responsibility, and the grace to make it happen.
He went on to say, "Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; and to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord."
In this passage, Paul declared how that the message which he had been given revealed much more than "the simplicity that is in Christ." Rather, that message would accomplish the huge task of making all men to understand the fellowship of the mystery which God had revealed. Not only so, but that The Church would excel beyond that, and come to the knowledge of "the manifold wisdom of God." That was, and is, His purpose and His will.
I think that it is interesting, in Romans 9, particularly verse 19, where Paul began one of his extensive efforts (three chapters) to cause us to understand the transition, the transfer of the light of God from those who were natural Israel, unto those who are now Israel by the means of the born-again experience. He showed that the problem with natural Israel was that they had rebelled against God's will, and God could no longer use them for His eternal purpose, except for that Jewish remnant which will be "espoused" to Christ after "the fullness of the Gentiles be come in" (Rom. 11:25).
Paul continued, saying, "I, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." The members of the "Church" at Ephesus were more than simply redeemed. They, as the Apostle Paul, were called of God unto a special work which God had willed to be done. Not only were they given a special work to do, but they needed to accept each other as brethren, and work together in the same mind, serving the Lord in the bond of Peace. That was the will of God then, and it is the will of God for His Church today. God is calling us to unity. God is anxious for us to begin to express His love one to another, and to respect the fact that anyone who has accepted Jesus Christ, and His sacrifice for the forgiveness of their sins, is born again. That is a very un-complicated truth which Isaiah 35:8 describes so well.
Only when we have come to the place where we can manifest that kind of mercy and love toward our brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ will we be worthy to be a part of "The Bride, the Lamb's Wife." We must come to a place in our walk with God that we have no agenda of our own, but that we give ourselves unto God, that He might use us to establish His will on the earth.
Unto that end "He (God) gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all (Jews and Gentiles) come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man (the Church), unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love."
We, "The People of Truth," have come to Paden, and found that God has an abundance of devout, dedicated people here, whose hearts are so turned toward Him that He can begin to assemble a like-minded group of His saints in this area. With just such a people, He can establish a base upon which the "fullness of the Gentiles" (Romans 11:25) can become a reality. Then we can begin taking the final steps toward the ushering in of the Bridegroom, the King of Kings.
Whatever He wills we will do.