1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:07,060 You are listening to a sermon from Pastor Colin Smith of Open The Bible. 2 00:00:07,060 –> 00:00:15,240 To contact us call us at 1-877-OPEN365 or visit our website, openthebible.org. 3 00:00:15,240 –> 00:00:20,639 So, let’s get to the message here is Pastor Colin. 4 00:00:20,639 –> 00:00:25,980 Now we are continuing our series on the subject of regeneration, how it is that Jesus Christ 5 00:00:25,980 –> 00:00:28,139 changes your soul. 6 00:00:28,180 –> 00:00:33,959 When a person is born again what is really different, what happens, what is new about 7 00:00:33,959 –> 00:00:38,720 the new creation and over these last weeks we have been learning from the Bible about 8 00:00:38,720 –> 00:00:43,799 how Christ changes the mind and the heart in regeneration. 9 00:00:43,799 –> 00:00:49,439 By nature we saw from Second Corinthians we cannot see the light of the Gospel of the 10 00:00:49,439 –> 00:00:56,060 glory of Jesus Christ who is the image of God and so God shines his light into our hearts 11 00:00:56,200 –> 00:01:00,619 so that we may see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 12 00:01:00,619 –> 00:01:05,059 And then last time we saw that by nature our hearts are hard, they are stony. 13 00:01:05,059 –> 00:01:10,260 A heart of stone we have towards God, that is a heart which is resistant towards God, 14 00:01:10,260 –> 00:01:14,120 even hostile towards God by nature the Bible says. 15 00:01:14,120 –> 00:01:20,660 Therefore it is God’s work to invade our hearts with his love to give to us a new heart 16 00:01:20,660 –> 00:01:23,139 that loves him and responds to him. 17 00:01:23,419 –> 00:01:28,059 So we’ve looked at the mind, that is Christ changes what you think and the heart, Christ 18 00:01:28,059 –> 00:01:30,180 changes what you love. 19 00:01:30,180 –> 00:01:35,739 Today we’re going to look at the subject of the will, Christ changes what you choose. 20 00:01:35,739 –> 00:01:39,440 Now please remember as we get into this. 21 00:01:39,440 –> 00:01:44,779 As we saw last time that the mind, the heart and the will don’t ever think of them as separate 22 00:01:44,779 –> 00:01:51,220 departments of your life, as if they were disconnected or operated independently. 23 00:01:51,320 –> 00:01:55,620 And when God brings new light to the mind and love to the heart and direction to the 24 00:01:55,620 –> 00:01:59,860 will, that is one miracle of grace that we call regeneration. 25 00:01:59,860 –> 00:02:02,519 It’s not three separate things that God does. 26 00:02:02,519 –> 00:02:07,019 It couldn’t be three separate things because you are one person. 27 00:02:07,019 –> 00:02:10,520 Your mind, your heart and your will function together. 28 00:02:10,520 –> 00:02:11,600 They’re interrelated. 29 00:02:11,600 –> 00:02:17,300 They’re interwoven and can never really be pulled apart. 30 00:02:17,419 –> 00:02:23,059 Some of you will realize very quickly as we come to the subject of the will that the whole 31 00:02:23,059 –> 00:02:30,660 issue of the freedom of the will, or the bondage of will, has been debated sometimes hotly 32 00:02:30,660 –> 00:02:34,720 down through the centuries of the Christian church. 33 00:02:34,720 –> 00:02:40,740 And there will be different views on this subject among us even here. 34 00:02:40,740 –> 00:02:46,860 So I want to share with you from the Scriptures what I have come to understand myself recognizing 35 00:02:46,919 –> 00:02:53,800 that not everyone will understand the Scriptures on this point in precisely the same way. 36 00:02:53,800 –> 00:02:59,539 And if you think differently I simply have to ask some grace from you today. 37 00:02:59,539 –> 00:03:09,919 But I do want to share what has increased my joy in Jesus Christ because I would covet 38 00:03:09,919 –> 00:03:16,380 for all of us a greater joy in Jesus Christ. 39 00:03:16,699 –> 00:03:26,699 A greater grasp of the dimensions of His love, which will lead us into a greater knowledge 40 00:03:26,699 –> 00:03:33,820 of what it is to worship Him with all that lies within us. 41 00:03:33,820 –> 00:03:39,339 And so that is my motivation in speaking from the Scriptures on this subject today. 42 00:03:39,339 –> 00:03:44,199 For those who would like to study the subject a little more I would like to recommend this 43 00:03:44,679 –> 00:03:49,960 found very, very helpful just to understand the issue and what is at stake here. 44 00:03:49,960 –> 00:03:53,960 It is called Willing to Believe by Dr. R.C. 45 00:03:53,960 –> 00:03:57,580 Sproul and we have copies of this that are available for purposes at the Unlocking the 46 00:03:57,580 –> 00:04:02,380 Bible Bookshop which is down the far end of the foyer there. 47 00:04:02,380 –> 00:04:08,619 What Sproul does is he in each chapter gives us the thinking of some of the main folks 48 00:04:08,759 –> 00:04:13,479 who have shaped the understanding of the Bible down through the years. 49 00:04:13,479 –> 00:04:17,959 People like Augustine, Pelagius – they thought very, very differently on this issue 50 00:04:17,959 –> 00:04:23,940 of course – Luther, Erasmus, Calvin, Arminius, Finney. 51 00:04:23,940 –> 00:04:28,899 You find out in each chapter how they thought, how they related to the scriptures. 52 00:04:28,899 –> 00:04:31,200 I have found that profoundly helpful. 53 00:04:31,200 –> 00:04:35,959 It’s not for beginners, but there are a lot of us here who are certainly not beginners 54 00:04:36,140 –> 00:04:41,279 and it’s good for us to apply our minds to important truths in the Bible and to think 55 00:04:41,279 –> 00:04:42,700 them through. 56 00:04:42,700 –> 00:04:47,260 And here’s a challenge – just before we get into it – that I would like to give. 57 00:04:47,260 –> 00:04:56,600 There are many Christians who have simply assumed that free will is a central pillar 58 00:04:56,600 –> 00:04:58,179 of the Christian gospel. 59 00:04:58,179 –> 00:05:01,619 You’ve never really thought about it, you just were brought up assuming that. 60 00:05:01,619 –> 00:05:05,019 You’ve never really thought about it deeply. 61 00:05:05,200 –> 00:05:08,239 And if that’s the case, you never really thought about it deeply, you just made that 62 00:05:08,239 –> 00:05:13,480 assumption that you know free will is written all over the Bible. 63 00:05:13,480 –> 00:05:17,500 If you’ve made that assumption I just want to encourage you to open your mind to think 64 00:05:17,500 –> 00:05:20,760 about this issue freshly. 65 00:05:20,760 –> 00:05:24,600 And to try and think again in the light of the Scriptures. 66 00:05:24,600 –> 00:05:32,239 And to see whether there might be growth in joy that comes to you. 67 00:05:32,420 –> 00:05:39,380 Now let’s open our Bibles then at John’s Gospel and Chapter 8, John’s Gospel and Chapter 8 68 00:05:39,380 –> 00:05:42,779 where we find some remarkable words of the Lord Jesus. 69 00:05:42,779 –> 00:05:49,100 We’re beginning at verse 31, and I want you to notice that Jesus is speaking to what seems 70 00:05:49,100 –> 00:05:51,260 like a sympathetic audience. 71 00:05:51,260 –> 00:05:57,160 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said. 72 00:05:57,160 –> 00:05:58,899 So there’s a dialogue that is going on. 73 00:05:58,980 –> 00:06:04,059 Jesus has been teaching and these people have evidently been accepting what he’s said. 74 00:06:04,059 –> 00:06:10,220 They are not yet committed to Christ, as will become evident from the way the chapter progresses. 75 00:06:10,220 –> 00:06:12,260 And clearly, Christ was not committed to them. 76 00:06:12,260 –> 00:06:17,260 You find a number of places where they cry to express interest without coming fully to 77 00:06:17,260 –> 00:06:19,700 a position of committed faith. 78 00:06:19,700 –> 00:06:24,380 John Chapter 2, verse 23 and verse 24 is another example of that. 79 00:06:24,380 –> 00:06:29,019 And so, with this sympathetic audience, Jesus wants to draw them further. 80 00:06:29,019 –> 00:06:34,940 He wants them to move beyond the general acceptance of what he has been saying to a life of committed 81 00:06:34,940 –> 00:06:35,940 obedience. 82 00:06:35,940 –> 00:06:44,940 And so, he says to them, if you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 83 00:06:44,940 –> 00:06:50,299 Then I want you to notice that our Lord hits our raw nerve. 84 00:06:50,299 –> 00:06:52,640 Notice what he says. 85 00:06:52,720 –> 00:07:01,540 You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. 86 00:07:01,540 –> 00:07:03,679 That gets an immediate reaction. 87 00:07:03,679 –> 00:07:08,760 I want you to feel the tension here that is going on in this discussion that Jesus has 88 00:07:08,760 –> 00:07:10,440 with these people. 89 00:07:10,440 –> 00:07:14,320 As soon as Jesus touches the subject of freedom, it gets an immediate reaction. 90 00:07:14,320 –> 00:07:16,399 Invariably, this is true. 91 00:07:16,399 –> 00:07:20,600 They say, we are Abraham’s descendants. 92 00:07:20,600 –> 00:07:22,279 We’ve never been slaves of anyone. 93 00:07:22,279 –> 00:07:24,119 How can you say that we’ll be set free? 94 00:07:24,119 –> 00:07:28,480 You see what they’re saying, we’re free already. 95 00:07:28,480 –> 00:07:32,399 That’s what we’ve been told right since the day of our birth. 96 00:07:32,399 –> 00:07:36,720 And now you’re saying we need to be set free and you can set us free? 97 00:07:36,720 –> 00:07:38,380 What in the world are you talking about? 98 00:07:38,380 –> 00:07:45,839 Now there is an immediate reaction as soon as the subject is broached. 99 00:07:45,839 –> 00:07:50,040 Now if you want to see where it goes just go to the end of the chapter because from 100 00:07:50,480 –> 00:07:54,339 onward, the discussion spirals downwards. 101 00:07:54,339 –> 00:07:56,679 If you look at verse 59, you’ll see where it ends. 102 00:07:56,679 –> 00:08:01,320 This crowd of people who have apparently been very sympathetic to the words of the Lord 103 00:08:01,320 –> 00:08:06,739 Jesus by the end of the chapter, they pick up stones to stone him. 104 00:08:06,739 –> 00:08:10,040 So this is a sensitive issue. 105 00:08:10,040 –> 00:08:11,600 It provokes a reaction. 106 00:08:11,600 –> 00:08:16,440 It’s worth us thinking about why that would be. 107 00:08:16,459 –> 00:08:22,100 As soon as Jesus said to these people, you need to be set free, their immediate reaction 108 00:08:22,100 –> 00:08:24,079 was they tuned him out. 109 00:08:24,079 –> 00:08:31,820 Their own freedom, you see, was a central pillar of their religion, an untouchable. 110 00:08:31,820 –> 00:08:38,140 And when Jesus says now, there is a kind of freedom that you do not have, and that only 111 00:08:38,140 –> 00:08:42,659 I can give to you, they were immediately offended. 112 00:08:43,260 –> 00:08:47,000 They did not like it and by nature, neither do we. 113 00:08:47,000 –> 00:08:49,380 Now, this of course should not surprise us. 114 00:08:49,380 –> 00:08:54,799 All of us want to feel in control of our own lives. 115 00:08:54,799 –> 00:09:00,820 And to feel in control of your own life, you want to feel that you’ve got your hand on 116 00:09:00,820 –> 00:09:04,159 the things that really matter. 117 00:09:04,159 –> 00:09:08,599 And one of the things that really matters in life, obviously, is salvation. 118 00:09:09,440 –> 00:09:14,359 So it is natural for us to feel that we want to have our hand on salvation and for it to 119 00:09:14,359 –> 00:09:16,200 be under our control. 120 00:09:16,200 –> 00:09:20,460 And whenever Jesus or anyone else raises the question that indicates that we might not 121 00:09:20,460 –> 00:09:25,840 actually have that much control, it provokes a reaction. 122 00:09:25,840 –> 00:09:31,059 By the way, in our culture, you do hear this control thing all the time. 123 00:09:31,059 –> 00:09:36,820 In our, on the talk shows, don’t we hear all the time, you can be anything you want to 124 00:09:37,419 –> 00:09:39,059 want to be. 125 00:09:39,059 –> 00:09:42,219 Isn’t that the fundamental spirit of our culture? 126 00:09:42,219 –> 00:09:48,239 You can be anything you want to be, you can reinvent yourself. 127 00:09:48,239 –> 00:09:52,260 You can be whoever you want to be. 128 00:09:52,260 –> 00:09:59,099 And Jesus is saying right here that at the deepest level, that most sacred tenant of 129 00:09:59,099 –> 00:10:05,320 our culture, He says, is not true. 130 00:10:05,320 –> 00:10:09,599 There is a kind of freedom, He says, to these folks who had believed Him, that you need 131 00:10:09,599 –> 00:10:13,080 to understand you do not have. 132 00:10:13,080 –> 00:10:18,520 Now, I want to make two very simple observations from this passage that are right there in 133 00:10:18,520 –> 00:10:19,679 front of us. 134 00:10:19,679 –> 00:10:24,960 The first is that Christ tells us that we are slaves, and that is verse 34. 135 00:10:24,960 –> 00:10:30,280 And the second is that Jesus Christ tells us that He can set us free. 136 00:10:30,280 –> 00:10:34,000 And that’s the wonderful good news of the Gospel, and it is in verse 36. 137 00:10:34,739 –> 00:10:38,500 So, just these two things, and then we’ll come to some applications as we try to think 138 00:10:38,500 –> 00:10:40,039 this through together. 139 00:10:40,039 –> 00:10:43,520 First, then, Christ tells us that we are slaves. 140 00:10:43,520 –> 00:10:44,520 Verse 34. 141 00:10:44,520 –> 00:10:47,640 Jesus replied, I tell you the truth. 142 00:10:47,640 –> 00:10:51,619 He’s now explaining why it is that we need to be set free. 143 00:10:51,619 –> 00:10:53,760 Here it is. 144 00:10:53,760 –> 00:11:00,679 Everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 145 00:11:00,679 –> 00:11:02,960 Notice that word slave. 146 00:11:03,059 –> 00:11:05,919 I want us to think about what it means. 147 00:11:07,219 –> 00:11:15,719 Now, Jesus says anyone who sins—anyone who sins—is that some of us or is that all of us? 148 00:11:16,719 –> 00:11:17,719 That’s all of us. 149 00:11:17,719 –> 00:11:19,679 It has to be, doesn’t it? 150 00:11:19,679 –> 00:11:25,919 So, Jesus is saying to us here all of us are slaves to sin. 151 00:11:25,919 –> 00:11:30,820 He’s talking about the natural condition into which we are born, by nature. 152 00:11:30,859 –> 00:11:35,080 The Bible bears witness to this, as we’ll see in a moment, we are slaves to sin. 153 00:11:35,080 –> 00:11:41,119 In other words, He’s saying it is your slavery that makes you sin. 154 00:11:41,119 –> 00:11:43,619 Our sinning is the evidence of our slavery. 155 00:11:43,619 –> 00:11:49,260 He’s not saying as parents sometimes say to kids, if you do the wrong things you’ll 156 00:11:49,260 –> 00:11:51,979 get trapped by them. 157 00:11:51,979 –> 00:11:56,440 What He is saying is, because you are trapped you will do the wrong things. 158 00:11:56,440 –> 00:12:00,099 That’s what it means to be a slave. 159 00:12:00,520 –> 00:12:09,099 That is it’s often been put, we are not sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners. 160 00:12:09,099 –> 00:12:14,900 In other words, this is in our nature, this goes to the very heart of the Bible’s teaching 161 00:12:14,900 –> 00:12:16,539 about our fallenness. 162 00:12:16,539 –> 00:12:21,979 That sin is not simply the things now and again that you do wrong, its fountain is from 163 00:12:21,979 –> 00:12:22,979 within. 164 00:12:22,979 –> 00:12:28,099 Which is why Jesus says it’s out of the heart that uncleanness and all kinds of evil 165 00:12:28,700 –> 00:12:31,820 comes. 166 00:12:31,820 –> 00:12:39,700 In other words, by nature we sin because we want to. 167 00:12:39,700 –> 00:12:48,799 The reason we want to sin is that sin by nature resides in our hearts. 168 00:12:48,940 –> 00:12:59,359 Sin, according to the Bible, by nature, is not simply near us, it is in us. 169 00:12:59,359 –> 00:13:03,200 Now we know why this subject is going to be sensitive. 170 00:13:03,200 –> 00:13:10,640 Because it goes to the heart of who we are and what our condition is, and what we actually 171 00:13:10,640 –> 00:13:14,200 need to be saved from. 172 00:13:14,200 –> 00:13:20,239 Candidly we would all much rather think that sin was a sort of dark force out there, that 173 00:13:20,239 –> 00:13:24,559 sometimes comes to us and tempts us, or maybe even often comes to us and tempts us, but 174 00:13:24,559 –> 00:13:30,599 that we have the basic ability within us to say yes or no and to decide. 175 00:13:30,599 –> 00:13:35,559 And because we’re fallen, we would recognize that often we fail and we make the wrong decision. 176 00:13:35,559 –> 00:13:40,599 But we want to think that when we come to our senses we have the ability to handle it, 177 00:13:40,619 –> 00:13:46,440 and to choose the right, and therefore to be our own Savior. 178 00:13:46,440 –> 00:13:53,400 But friends, that is not the teaching of the Bible. 179 00:13:53,400 –> 00:13:57,280 It’s not the teaching of Jesus. 180 00:13:57,280 –> 00:14:05,039 He says to these folks, when you sin, the problem isn’t just that you, hey, you got 181 00:14:05,039 –> 00:14:09,359 it wrong and you fouled up, made a bit of a mistake. 182 00:14:09,640 –> 00:14:14,820 Sin is because you are a slave to sin. 183 00:14:14,820 –> 00:14:15,840 It’s in you. 184 00:14:15,840 –> 00:14:19,119 It’s a power. 185 00:14:19,119 –> 00:14:24,880 Now, let me just try and show you this a little more broadly in the Scriptures as some of 186 00:14:24,880 –> 00:14:28,640 us are trying to open our minds to this and to take it in more clearly. 187 00:14:28,640 –> 00:14:31,880 I just took one example from each of the apostles. 188 00:14:31,880 –> 00:14:35,239 Speaking about the effects of sin in our nature. 189 00:14:35,239 –> 00:14:36,960 Let’s start with James. 190 00:14:36,960 –> 00:14:40,599 James, chapter 1 and verse 13 and 14. 191 00:14:40,599 –> 00:14:47,200 When tempted, no one should say, God is tempting me, for God cannot be tempted by evil, and 192 00:14:47,200 –> 00:14:48,719 nor does He tempt anyone. 193 00:14:48,719 –> 00:14:53,219 But each one of us is tempted when by his, what? 194 00:14:53,219 –> 00:14:56,780 His own evil desire. 195 00:14:56,780 –> 00:14:58,219 His own evil desire. 196 00:14:58,219 –> 00:15:01,039 Do you see what James is saying? 197 00:15:01,039 –> 00:15:02,599 Don’t blame temptation on someone else. 198 00:15:02,599 –> 00:15:04,599 Doesn’t come from outside you, it comes from where? 199 00:15:04,640 –> 00:15:06,739 It comes from inside you. 200 00:15:06,739 –> 00:15:12,119 Because sin has a deeper root in us by nature than most of us want to think. 201 00:15:12,119 –> 00:15:14,840 That’s what he is saying. 202 00:15:14,840 –> 00:15:18,039 It comes from inside. 203 00:15:18,039 –> 00:15:22,659 Here’s Peter on the same subject of slavery, he speaks about the false teachers who come 204 00:15:22,659 –> 00:15:27,799 into the church and they promise freedom, why they themselves are slaves of depravity, 205 00:15:28,159 –> 00:15:33,400 For he says a man is a slave to whatever is mastered him. 206 00:15:33,400 –> 00:15:40,960 Paul, speaking about our condition by nature, he says the sinful mind, Romans 8, 7 is hostile 207 00:15:40,960 –> 00:15:42,580 to God. 208 00:15:42,580 –> 00:15:46,840 Really putting what we saw last week about the heart being stomach towards God in a different 209 00:15:46,840 –> 00:15:49,280 way, it’s the same truth. 210 00:15:49,280 –> 00:15:54,719 And then he says this of our condition by nature, that the sinful mind does not submit 211 00:15:54,760 –> 00:16:00,440 to God’s law, not can it do so. 212 00:16:00,440 –> 00:16:12,599 So not only is he saying that we are unable to follow after the ways of Christ by nature, 213 00:16:12,599 –> 00:16:17,580 he says we are unwilling to do so. 214 00:16:17,580 –> 00:16:22,919 It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do. 215 00:16:22,960 –> 00:16:33,799 Which is why, please follow me here, the apostle John says unmistakably that the new birth 216 00:16:33,799 –> 00:16:37,400 is not the result of a human decision. 217 00:16:37,400 –> 00:16:42,320 Have you seen that in John chapter 1 and verses 12 and 13? 218 00:16:42,320 –> 00:16:48,080 Look at the words carefully, John 1, 12, and 13, to all who received him, to all who 219 00:16:48,080 –> 00:16:55,700 received Christ, that is, to those who believe in his name he gave the right to become children 220 00:16:55,700 –> 00:16:56,700 of God. 221 00:16:56,700 –> 00:17:04,920 They are children born not of natural decent, and here it comes, nor of a human decision. 222 00:17:04,920 –> 00:17:09,000 Do you see that there? 223 00:17:09,000 –> 00:17:12,520 So what he’s saying, let’s put it together, is that those who belong to the family of 224 00:17:12,520 –> 00:17:17,300 God, those who are God’s children, they are number one, those who have received him. 225 00:17:17,300 –> 00:17:19,599 Number two, those who have believed in his name. 226 00:17:19,599 –> 00:17:22,819 These two things always come together. 227 00:17:22,819 –> 00:17:28,839 But how did they come to receive him and to believe in his name? 228 00:17:28,839 –> 00:17:31,180 That’s the question. 229 00:17:31,180 –> 00:17:32,420 How did that happen to you? 230 00:17:32,420 –> 00:17:36,560 How did that happen in my life? 231 00:17:36,560 –> 00:17:40,640 And John’s going to the root cause of why it is that you received Christ and why it 232 00:17:40,640 –> 00:17:45,359 is that you believed in his name, and he says, number one, it’s nothing to do with your ethnicity. 233 00:17:46,079 –> 00:17:48,260 It’s nothing to do with race. 234 00:17:48,260 –> 00:17:50,800 It’s nothing to do with natural descent. 235 00:17:50,800 –> 00:17:58,280 And number two, he says, not of a human decision. 236 00:17:58,280 –> 00:17:59,959 Why? 237 00:17:59,959 –> 00:18:10,579 Because, given my condition, fallen in sin by nature, I’m incapable of making that decision, 238 00:18:10,579 –> 00:18:14,979 apart from the grace and mercy of God. 239 00:18:15,219 –> 00:18:16,400 Friends, think about this. 240 00:18:16,400 –> 00:18:25,920 If it’s really true that, by nature, we cannot see the glory of Christ, if it’s really true 241 00:18:25,920 –> 00:18:36,140 that, by nature, our hearts are resistant towards God, if God left us to our own choice 242 00:18:36,140 –> 00:18:44,319 in that condition, we would never choose Christ, would we? 243 00:18:45,719 –> 00:18:50,699 Not if we can’t see his glory and our hearts are hard towards him, if you really believed that. 244 00:18:52,319 –> 00:18:55,520 Now please struggle along with me for a few more moments. 245 00:18:55,520 –> 00:19:02,540 This obviously raises the question of the will, in what sense is the human will free? 246 00:19:02,540 –> 00:19:08,180 And let me make three statements about that, that I hope might be helpful to all of us. 247 00:19:08,180 –> 00:19:15,300 Number one, we make real choices, and we make them freely. 248 00:19:16,020 –> 00:19:25,339 The Bible teaches throughout that we are people, we are created by God, we are not puppets, 249 00:19:25,339 –> 00:19:27,180 we make choices. 250 00:19:27,180 –> 00:19:33,380 The choices that you make, the choices that I make shape the course of our lives. 251 00:19:33,479 –> 00:19:35,939 We can make good choices. 252 00:19:35,939 –> 00:19:40,020 We can come to a crisis in our life in which many things are going wrong and we can turn 253 00:19:40,020 –> 00:19:42,939 round and move in a different direction. 254 00:19:42,939 –> 00:19:47,420 We can make all kinds of improvements and stories of such changes can be multiplied 255 00:19:47,420 –> 00:19:49,020 everywhere. 256 00:19:49,020 –> 00:19:51,020 We have that capacity. 257 00:19:51,020 –> 00:19:55,859 We make real choices and we make them freely. 258 00:19:55,859 –> 00:20:01,780 Number two, we are responsible for the choices that we make. 259 00:20:01,900 –> 00:20:04,780 We’ve seen that already from the teaching of James. 260 00:20:04,780 –> 00:20:08,680 We can’t blame other people for our choices. 261 00:20:08,680 –> 00:20:09,719 We can’t blame God. 262 00:20:09,719 –> 00:20:10,719 We can’t blame the devil. 263 00:20:10,719 –> 00:20:11,859 You can’t blame your husband. 264 00:20:11,859 –> 00:20:13,020 You can’t blame your wife. 265 00:20:13,020 –> 00:20:14,520 You can’t blame your friends. 266 00:20:14,520 –> 00:20:21,300 Remember, Adam tried that back in the Garden about this eating of the fruit and Adam says, 267 00:20:21,300 –> 00:20:23,839 Oh yes, God, the woman you gave me. 268 00:20:23,839 –> 00:20:27,479 So first he blames God and then he blames the woman she gave me and I did eat. 269 00:20:27,479 –> 00:20:29,380 Adam, that won’t work. 270 00:20:29,380 –> 00:20:31,400 You ate. 271 00:20:32,119 –> 00:20:35,959 You chose, you’re responsible. 272 00:20:35,959 –> 00:20:41,099 No, that’s fundamental, isn’t it, to all ethics? 273 00:20:41,099 –> 00:20:48,199 We make real choices and we are responsible for the choices that we make. 274 00:20:48,199 –> 00:20:53,900 That is the way God has created us in the way that He has ordered the world. 275 00:20:53,900 –> 00:20:56,479 The real question goes deeper. 276 00:20:56,479 –> 00:20:59,619 Why do we make the choices we make? 277 00:20:59,660 –> 00:21:01,800 And why do we do the things that we do? 278 00:21:01,800 –> 00:21:04,739 That’s the real question. 279 00:21:04,739 –> 00:21:16,359 What motivates, guides, directs the choices that you make and that I make in our lives? 280 00:21:16,359 –> 00:21:26,140 And I want to place this before you, that we choose according to the prevailing desires 281 00:21:26,140 –> 00:21:27,599 of our hearts. 282 00:21:27,640 –> 00:21:33,219 We choose according to the prevailing desires of our hearts. 283 00:21:33,219 –> 00:21:39,640 Louis Burckhoff, a great theologian puts it this way, and I think it’s particularly clear, 284 00:21:39,640 –> 00:21:47,520 he says, there is a certain liberty that is the inalienable possession of the free agent. 285 00:21:47,520 –> 00:21:51,280 He’s defining, in other words, the kind of freedom we do have. 286 00:21:51,280 –> 00:21:56,660 There’s a certain liberty that is the inalienable possession of the free agent, namely, the 287 00:21:56,660 –> 00:22:03,479 liberty to choose as he pleases, in full accord with the prevailing dispositions and 288 00:22:03,479 –> 00:22:05,239 tendencies of his soul. 289 00:22:05,239 –> 00:22:09,319 Now, He’s saying, that’s the kind of freedom we do have as fallen human beings. 290 00:22:09,319 –> 00:22:16,660 By nature, our freedom is the freedom, the inalienable freedom of the free agent, he 291 00:22:16,660 –> 00:22:22,359 says, is to choose as we please in accordance with the prevailing dispositions and tendencies 292 00:22:22,359 –> 00:22:24,780 of our own souls. 293 00:22:24,839 –> 00:22:28,300 Could you like me to put that into simpler English, for you? 294 00:22:28,300 –> 00:22:29,300 Okay. 295 00:22:29,300 –> 00:22:34,099 You will do what you most wanna do, and so will I. 296 00:22:34,099 –> 00:22:37,699 That’s just the most fundamental obvious thing when you think about it. 297 00:22:37,699 –> 00:22:41,380 You do what you wanna do. 298 00:22:41,380 –> 00:22:45,140 And even in times when you’re conflicted, what you do is what you really most want to 299 00:22:45,140 –> 00:22:46,300 do. 300 00:22:46,300 –> 00:22:49,939 That’s what He’s saying. 301 00:22:49,939 –> 00:22:54,739 And that is the nature of our freedom. 302 00:22:54,739 –> 00:22:59,099 It is a freedom to move in the direction of our prevailing desires. 303 00:22:59,099 –> 00:23:01,699 What He’s saying is your will doesn’t operate independently. 304 00:23:01,699 –> 00:23:03,660 You’re a person. 305 00:23:03,660 –> 00:23:08,579 And so where your will goes is directed by where your mind is and where your heart is. 306 00:23:08,579 –> 00:23:11,859 Therefore the condition of your mind and your heart is going to be what gives direction 307 00:23:11,859 –> 00:23:12,800 to your will. 308 00:23:12,800 –> 00:23:15,699 Now, let’s back up a little bit. 309 00:23:15,699 –> 00:23:18,859 So if the mind doesn’t see the glory of Christ and the heart is resistant to God, where’s 310 00:23:18,859 –> 00:23:20,979 the will gonna go? 311 00:23:20,979 –> 00:23:24,739 Prevailing directions of your own soul, you see. 312 00:23:24,739 –> 00:23:28,900 And that is the dreadful condition of the sinner by nature. 313 00:23:28,900 –> 00:23:33,099 How did you get out of that? 314 00:23:33,099 –> 00:23:38,680 How in the world is a person who’s blind to the glory of Christ and resistant towards 315 00:23:38,680 –> 00:23:44,060 God ever going to choose to turn towards Christ? 316 00:23:44,060 –> 00:23:48,119 How would that happen? 317 00:23:48,119 –> 00:23:50,880 It’s actually against our freedom, because the freedom is to go in the prevailing direction 318 00:23:51,339 –> 00:23:55,079 of the dispositions of our soul. 319 00:23:55,079 –> 00:24:01,680 Just as a little caveat before we move on, you can call that what Berkhoff has just described 320 00:24:01,680 –> 00:24:03,939 free will. 321 00:24:03,939 –> 00:24:07,420 I prefer not to use the term candidly for two reasons. 322 00:24:07,420 –> 00:24:09,380 One, the Bible never uses it. 323 00:24:09,380 –> 00:24:10,540 Did you know that by the way? 324 00:24:10,540 –> 00:24:14,939 The Bible never uses the phrase free will, not even once. 325 00:24:14,939 –> 00:24:20,319 And secondly, people mean such different things by it. 326 00:24:20,459 –> 00:24:24,439 But if you were going to speak about free will that’s fine. 327 00:24:24,439 –> 00:24:31,219 Please, please try to remember that the freedom we have by nature is a freedom to move in 328 00:24:31,219 –> 00:24:33,979 the direction of the prevailing dispositions of our soul. 329 00:24:33,979 –> 00:24:35,219 It is conditioned by who we are. 330 00:24:35,219 –> 00:24:40,979 It is our freedom, the freedom of those whose minds do not see the glory of Christ and whose 331 00:24:40,979 –> 00:24:44,640 hearts are resistant towards God. 332 00:24:44,660 –> 00:24:50,760 Some years ago I came across an illustration by Walter Chantry that I found very helpful. 333 00:24:50,760 –> 00:24:55,579 He wrote it at the height of the NASA space program and he was thinking of the launching 334 00:24:55,579 –> 00:25:01,060 of rockets back those years ago into space and particularly he’s thinking of unmanned 335 00:25:01,060 –> 00:25:02,300 flight. 336 00:25:02,300 –> 00:25:07,979 And he says when a rocket is launched there’s this massive technology that’s involved, circuitry 337 00:25:08,760 –> 00:25:14,920 wires and all this marvellous kind of stuff that’s all kind of woven together into the 338 00:25:14,920 –> 00:25:20,239 fabric of this thing that’s going to escape the Earth’s gravity and he said and yet 339 00:25:20,239 –> 00:25:27,239 all these circuits and all of this is connected into the command centre that we call Mission 340 00:25:27,560 –> 00:25:29,800 Control. 341 00:25:29,800 –> 00:25:33,819 And he says what we have to understand is that the heart, the human heart is the mission 342 00:25:33,819 –> 00:25:40,819 control of life and the direction the rocket goes really is determined by the heart, by 343 00:25:43,040 –> 00:25:48,680 the condition of your heart and he says this, I quote him, if mission control is wired for 344 00:25:48,680 –> 00:25:55,680 evil the will cannot make the rockets of life travel on the paths of righteousness. 345 00:25:56,099 –> 00:26:03,099 Will may be the button that launches the spacecraft but the launching button does not determine 346 00:26:03,599 –> 00:26:09,140 its direction. That’s very helpful. Will is the button that launches the spacecraft. Press 347 00:26:09,140 –> 00:26:16,199 go but the button that launches the spacecraft doesn’t determine its direction. That’s 348 00:26:16,199 –> 00:26:23,199 programmed at a deeper level. So he concludes you are free to be yourself what you cannot 349 00:26:23,560 –> 00:26:29,640 do is transform yourself into somebody else. That is a very, very important thing for us 350 00:26:29,680 –> 00:26:35,099 to understand in relation to the gospel. I was speaking to someone just the other week 351 00:26:35,099 –> 00:26:40,339 and he said to me. I reinvent myself every five years as you know. Have you ever heard 352 00:26:40,339 –> 00:26:45,599 someone say that. What he meant by that is he changed his career, changed location, changed 353 00:26:45,599 –> 00:26:50,839 his appearance, changed his wardrobe and presented himself to the world in an entirely different 354 00:26:50,839 –> 00:26:56,239 way. This is fascinating isn’t it. How far can you go with re-inventing yourself. That’s 355 00:26:56,719 –> 00:27:02,900 the question, quite a long way. You can change what you do, you can change where you live, 356 00:27:02,900 –> 00:27:05,800 you can change the colour of your hair, your eyes, you can change your appearance, you 357 00:27:05,800 –> 00:27:12,619 can lose weight, you can change your clothes. You cannot change yourself. Your mind is still 358 00:27:12,619 –> 00:27:19,239 your mind. Your heart is still your heart. And your will is still your will. And the 359 00:27:19,300 –> 00:27:23,959 reason you’re reinventing yourself is that that’s what you most want to do. You see. 360 00:27:23,959 –> 00:27:34,479 Can the leper change its spots? The Bible asks. And the answer to that question is no. 361 00:27:34,479 –> 00:27:38,880 So I can change massive things about my life, and that leads, of course, people just to 362 00:27:38,880 –> 00:27:42,520 naturally assume that I can change my eternal destiny, that I have that capacity within 363 00:27:42,660 –> 00:27:57,780 It is innate! I’m in control. And the Bible is saying, only God can save you. Only God 364 00:27:57,780 –> 00:28:01,760 can bring light to a mind that doesn’t see the glory of Christ. Only God can bring His 365 00:28:01,760 –> 00:28:07,920 love to a heart that is resistant towards Him. And so only God can rewire mission control 366 00:28:07,920 –> 00:28:12,540 so that your life begins to move in a new direction. And what I want you to see, if 367 00:28:12,540 –> 00:28:19,260 you are a believer today, I want you to see that incredibly and inexplicably God has done 368 00:28:19,260 –> 00:28:32,260 that for you. And when you see that, you will worship! Christ tells us that we are slaves. 369 00:28:32,859 –> 00:28:36,300 Christ tells us that He can make us free. 370 00:28:36,300 –> 00:28:43,219 Here is this marvelous statement of the gospel in verse 36. If the son sets you free you 371 00:28:43,219 –> 00:28:46,780 will be free indeed. 372 00:28:46,780 –> 00:28:53,239 By definition, slaves cannot set themselves free but Jesus says, I can set you free, from 373 00:28:53,239 –> 00:29:00,239 the wretched condition of human nature, the slavery to sin, the fallenness of the mind 374 00:29:00,619 –> 00:29:07,619 and the heart and the corresponding choices of the will, I can change that. 375 00:29:08,479 –> 00:29:14,219 And here is the wonderful thing that again I hope makes us worship today because I can’t 376 00:29:14,219 –> 00:29:21,219 explain this but only glimpse it from afar. Christ did not drag any one of us kicking 377 00:29:22,839 –> 00:29:27,979 and screaming against our wills into His Kingdom. 378 00:29:27,979 –> 00:29:34,979 When Christ shines His light into your mind and pours His love into your heart, He changes 379 00:29:38,079 –> 00:29:45,079 the prevailing desires that are within you so that your will freely moves in a new direction 380 00:29:46,959 –> 00:29:52,599 because there are different prevailing desires, you see. 381 00:29:52,739 –> 00:29:55,020 This how Luther puts it beautifully. 382 00:29:55,020 –> 00:30:02,020 When God works in us, the will is changed under the sweet influence of the Spirit of 383 00:30:03,839 –> 00:30:06,260 God. Isn’t that beautiful? 384 00:30:06,260 –> 00:30:13,260 The sweet influence of the Spirit of God. It desires an act, not of compulsion, it’s 385 00:30:13,319 –> 00:30:18,819 not that God is making you to be a Christian, no one has ever found that to be the case, 386 00:30:19,760 –> 00:30:26,760 sweetly under the influence of the Spirit He changes our wills. So that the will desires 387 00:30:27,119 –> 00:30:32,339 an act not of compulsion but of its own desire, and of its own spontaneous inclination. Why? 388 00:30:32,339 –> 00:30:37,739 Because it’s following a new prevailing disposition of the heart that has changed because God 389 00:30:37,739 –> 00:30:44,739 has brought light and love into the very core of your being where it was not before. 390 00:30:44,920 –> 00:30:50,699 The will chooses according to the prevailing desires of the heart if the prevailing desires 391 00:30:50,699 –> 00:30:55,900 of the heart are changed by the sweetness of God’s grace, the will freely and gladly 392 00:30:55,900 –> 00:31:02,900 moves in a new direction. So Christ sets the will free in the full sense of that word in 393 00:31:03,459 –> 00:31:09,520 regeneration so that gladly and freely you and I as Christian believers choose to follow 394 00:31:09,560 –> 00:31:15,079 Christ. As Paul says, we make it our aim to please Him and that truly comes from inside 395 00:31:15,079 –> 00:31:20,800 the believer. This is the liberty of being a Christian, it’s the miracle of the transformation 396 00:31:20,800 –> 00:31:27,239 that the bible calls regeneration. Now, it’s worth remembering, and we will talk a little 397 00:31:27,239 –> 00:31:32,339 more about this next week, that the prevailing disposition of your soul isn’t the only disposition 398 00:31:32,339 –> 00:31:39,339 of your soul. I mean, we’re still tempted as regenerated believers and we often think 399 00:31:39,540 –> 00:31:50,180 that we can fail. But even in your temptation and in your failure, you know that you are 400 00:31:50,180 –> 00:31:55,780 not the person that you were before. There may be times when you’ve given way to greed, 401 00:31:55,780 –> 00:32:01,739 but if you have been born again, right now in the core of your being you know that the 402 00:32:01,739 –> 00:32:08,079 goal of your life is not to accumulate a mass of stuff, you know that the goal of your life 403 00:32:08,160 –> 00:32:15,119 is to count for eternity as one who knows Jesus Christ. You know that. You may have 404 00:32:15,119 –> 00:32:18,719 failed to live up to it, but at the core of your being you know that to be true. You may 405 00:32:18,719 –> 00:32:24,160 have fallen into lies. You may have fallen into lust. You may have fallen into pride 406 00:32:24,160 –> 00:32:29,719 at some point in these last days. But at the core of your being you know right now if you 407 00:32:29,719 –> 00:32:36,719 are a believer, you know that that is not what you really want. You do not want to bumble 408 00:32:37,000 –> 00:32:44,000 along in this. You want to honor Christ. You really do. You want to live for his glory. 409 00:32:44,599 –> 00:32:48,979 You want to walk in purity. You want to grow in holiness and why do you want that? Because 410 00:32:48,979 –> 00:32:55,979 you are a new creation in Jesus Christ. And when you are in Christ, the prevailing disposition 411 00:32:56,260 –> 00:33:00,560 of your soul is different which is whywhen we gather together like this Christ draws 412 00:33:00,619 –> 00:33:06,920 us afresh to himself and there is a response with our hearts because of this miracle of 413 00:33:06,920 –> 00:33:13,359 regeneration. It’s wonderful. Sometimes it is really helpful for us to be reminded of 414 00:33:13,359 –> 00:33:20,119 the miracle that has taken place. A lady once came to C. H. Spurgeon who was 415 00:33:20,119 –> 00:33:26,099 not only a marvelous preacher but a very percepted pastor and the lady said you know Mr. Spurgeon 416 00:33:26,099 –> 00:33:30,560 I fear I may not actually be a Christian. I was that. She said my heart is so often 417 00:33:30,560 –> 00:33:38,280 cold and so I wonder do I really love Christ at all. And so Spurgeon immediately grabped 418 00:33:38,280 –> 00:33:44,060 a piece of paper and he scribbled something on the back. I do not love Jesus Christ. And 419 00:33:44,060 –> 00:33:49,420 he handed it to the lady and he said will you sign that? She was quite shocked of course. 420 00:33:49,420 –> 00:33:54,979 She said well Pastor I couldn’t possibly sign that. I do not love Jesus Christ. He said 421 00:33:55,040 –> 00:34:02,939 well why can’t you sign it? She said well because I love Christ. He said exactly because 422 00:34:02,939 –> 00:34:09,399 the miracle of regeneration is in your heart and though your heart often grows cold you 423 00:34:09,399 –> 00:34:17,120 know in the depth of your being that you love this Savior. Are you beginning to rejoice 424 00:34:17,120 –> 00:34:21,620 today that this miracle of God’s grace has happened in you? You see to be a Christian 425 00:34:21,719 –> 00:34:25,520 is to be who you are. It’s not pretending to be something you’re not. It’s to be what 426 00:34:25,520 –> 00:34:30,860 God has made you at the very depth of your being so that true freedom is when what God 427 00:34:30,860 –> 00:34:37,860 calls you to do and what you most want to do turn out to be exactly the same thing. 428 00:34:39,899 –> 00:34:46,899 Now what is the use of this truth in our lives? Let me try and give you just some very simple 429 00:34:47,800 –> 00:34:54,800 applications. Here’s number one, this truth really does make sense of our struggles. And 430 00:34:55,659 –> 00:35:00,520 there are many many folks you see who have the idea that we have the ability to save 431 00:35:00,520 –> 00:35:05,780 ourselves, that therefore Christianity is basically about us making better choices, 432 00:35:05,780 –> 00:35:10,219 and there are many people across our country who think that to become a Christian means 433 00:35:10,219 –> 00:35:13,580 to stop doing the bad stuff and start doing the good stuff and start going to church and 434 00:35:13,739 –> 00:35:18,080 put something on the collection plate. And they assume the power to do that lies within 435 00:35:18,080 –> 00:35:24,040 me. And the Bible tells us sin is a deeper problem. It is a power and its power lies 436 00:35:24,040 –> 00:35:31,040 deeply rooted within us. And we need a saviour to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. 437 00:35:31,860 –> 00:35:37,260 That’s the first great application of this truth. Here’s the second. It brings great 438 00:35:37,260 –> 00:35:44,260 hope in Jesus Christ. Think of this promise now. If the Son of God sets you free, you 439 00:35:45,000 –> 00:35:52,000 are free indeed. This is where hope lies. For your loved ones and mine who do not love 440 00:35:55,459 –> 00:36:01,820 Christ and do not see the light of the Gospel, there is a work of the Son of God that can 441 00:36:01,939 –> 00:36:08,939 go on. I know some people whose will is so clear. And I think what in all the world will 442 00:36:09,760 –> 00:36:15,639 change that will? Thank God for this promise. If the Son of God is to step in and make that 443 00:36:15,639 –> 00:36:21,080 person free, they will be free indeed. They will move in a completely different direction 444 00:36:21,080 –> 00:36:28,080 if Christ saves them. This is more than forgiveness, this is Christ intercepting human lives which 445 00:36:29,000 –> 00:36:35,479 is why the person furthest away from Christ can as easily be saved as the one who apparently 446 00:36:35,479 –> 00:36:42,479 very close. Sol of Tarsus is turned around like that. Third, this truth glorifies God. 447 00:36:48,340 –> 00:36:54,939 I want you to see how it is a common assumption among many Christian people that God is willing 448 00:36:54,939 –> 00:37:01,939 to save us, but that we must make the first move towards Him. That is a very common assumption. 449 00:37:02,219 –> 00:37:09,219 It may even be the majority assumption among believers in our country that Christ is gracious 450 00:37:10,820 –> 00:37:15,580 and Christ is willing to forgive, but we must make the first move and that God responds 451 00:37:15,580 –> 00:37:22,000 to us when we take the initiative of repenting and believing. That He saves us, but only 452 00:37:22,000 –> 00:37:28,320 when we want Him to. And here’s one problem with that. What that 453 00:37:28,320 –> 00:37:35,320 means then is that if I am saved and my friend is lost, ultimately the only difference between 454 00:37:38,000 –> 00:37:45,000 us is that I made the first move towards God and He did not, which would have to mean that 455 00:37:45,919 –> 00:37:52,760 my salvation ultimately boils down to something that I did and He didn’t, which is getting 456 00:37:52,760 –> 00:37:59,760 us back to salvation by a human work and in some level me being better than Him because 457 00:38:02,060 –> 00:38:08,479 I made a better choice, didn’t I? But what I’m wanting us to see from the Bible 458 00:38:08,479 –> 00:38:13,439 here today is that if by nature the mind is blind to the Gospel and if by nature our heart 459 00:38:13,439 –> 00:38:19,320 is hard towards God, I will not and I cannot make the first move towards God. The only 460 00:38:19,320 –> 00:38:24,399 way that I have been saved and I thank God for this right now as I hope you do, is that 461 00:38:24,399 –> 00:38:30,879 He made the first move towards me! And if He hadn’t I would never have chosen Him, 462 00:38:30,879 –> 00:38:34,439 I would never have been willing to come, I would never have seen the glory of Christ 463 00:38:34,439 –> 00:38:41,439 until He opened my eyes. Which is why the Reformers who saw this truth so clearly that 464 00:38:41,780 –> 00:38:48,780 salvation is they said sola gratia by grace alone and soli Deo Gloria to the glory of 465 00:38:51,080 –> 00:38:58,080 God alone. It cuts the root of pride out of us and leaves us staggered, lost in wonder, 466 00:39:04,179 –> 00:39:07,179 love, and praise. 467 00:39:07,179 –> 00:39:10,459 Let’s pray together. 468 00:39:11,320 –> 00:39:16,899 So glad, Father, that you did not wait for me to make the first move that I would never 469 00:39:16,899 –> 00:39:23,899 have got to. But you have stepped into this fallen, sinful life, shining your light 470 00:39:26,439 –> 00:39:33,439 into my heart, opening my eyes to the wonder of Jesus. You have freely exercised 471 00:39:33,639 –> 00:39:39,379 your will, so that my will should be made truly free, so that now from a glad heart 472 00:39:39,379 –> 00:39:45,580 freely I seek to offer myself back to you. Not under compulsion, but because it is 473 00:39:45,580 –> 00:39:52,580 the prevailing desire of this heart to live for you, to honor you, and to spend 474 00:39:53,020 –> 00:40:00,020 eternity with you as my Lord and my Savior and my God, and my Redeemer, through 475 00:40:07,679 –> 00:40:14,679 Jesus Christ in whose name we all pray. Amen. 476 00:40:15,020 –> 00:40:19,120 You’ve been listening to a sermon with Pastor Colin Smith of Open The Bible. To 477 00:40:19,120 –> 00:40:26,439 contact us, call us at 1-877-OPEN-365 or visit our website, OpenTheBible.org.