I thought we had already entered eternity, because I kept looking at the clock, and after all that time the hand didn't move, and I thought this was quite remarkable. And now I look at my hand — we're still in time, not yet in eternity. Thank you. The Lord's grace will also be in this series. But it so happens that I trust it will tie up with our camp theme as well.
But before I go into the message, I should say a word about that. Actually, our brother Eric was very much prepared to take the message today, for fear that I would be too tired after the camp. And however, yesterday when I got up, the Lord spoke clearly to me that I should proceed with the message. But I did not immediately tell Brother Eric that the Lord had said so. Otherwise, he would find that there was no point of discussing the message, since the Lord had already shown me. So what's the point of discussing the message any further? But instead of telling him that the Lord has so led me already, I simply asked him, "What is the Lord showing you?" He gave various other reasons. He said, "I am very ready to take up the message of preaching." But he gave various reasons why I should preach. I said, "Well, those reasons don't seem to be the right ones to me, you see. So perhaps you and I should spend more time waiting before the Lord, you see." And so we continued to wait. And I waited to see how the Lord would lead him. And finally, he also concluded that perhaps I should take up the message. But he said, "I would like you to know, and I would like everyone else to know, that I am most ready and willing to take up this message, if there should be the need to do so."
So I just thank the Lord. That's right. When we all follow the leading of the Spirit, it shows how wonderfully our understanding coincides. Yes. And therefore, there's no need to say, "The Lord has shown me, therefore you have to do it this way." That's not right. If the Lord has shown you, the Lord will show the other person too, if he walks with the Lord. And I'm confident that Eric is walking with the Lord. And so, indeed, the Lord made it clear to him. That's how it would be. So I don't have to say this. I say this because there are very practical consequences in our being led by the Spirit.
It's very dangerous for people to come up and say, "I am led by the Spirit in this way, and therefore you have to do it my way." We are going to use what is spiritual as an excuse for doing things our own way. And you're all very familiar with the boy who comes to the girl and says, "The Lord has shown me that you have to marry me." And really, it happens time and again that this thing happens, that some boy says, "I've been praying about this, and the Lord has shown me, and I am led by the Lord to tell you that you have to marry me." Well, this is stopping. I mean, for the girl, it's absolutely overwhelming. I mean, with that, you can't really argue anymore. I mean, to argue with that is to argue with the Lord. And who dares to argue with the Lord? You know, if the Lord wants me to marry you, well, so be it. What can I say?
But that's why I have warned Christians in the church, don't you ever listen to such nonsense. Firstly, because if that person is truly led by the Spirit of the Lord, he doesn't have to announce that to you. He doesn't have to announce that. He will wait. If he is truly a spiritual man — and I trust only the Lord leads only those who are spiritually minded — he will wait to see how the Lord will lead you. "He has spoken to me, and He will speak to you too. I have time. I can wait to see the Lord's time when you are ready. You'll say one day the same thing. You know, I thank you for this leading me." I say, "Yes, but the Lord told me that a long time ago, but I'm just waiting for you." Isn't that so much more wonderful than to come up and announce? And most remarkable of all, one sister once told me, "He said that the Lord told him I am to marry him, and the Lord hasn't told me anything at all." You see? I said, "Good, so you stay out and stay away from this man."
So, in this matter of the leading of the Spirit, this is what I would like to speak about. It's God's plan for us — God's predetermined, pre-designed plan for us. I would like to speak today, therefore, in connection with this matter of perfection, because what is perfection but to be conformed to the image of Christ? And Paul tells us in Romans chapter 8, in the passage from verses 28 to 30, that God has predetermined that we are to be conformed to the image of His Son. Put in another language, He has predetermined — or to use the language of some, predestined — that we be conformed to the image of His Son.
Now, I expounded on the scriptural teaching of predestination some years ago, and this was put in Oasis also some years ago. And recently, when I met Professor Clark Pinnock of McMaster University — who is, as some of you know, professor of systematic theology in McMaster University — I showed him those messages on predestination that I had, those Bible studies on predestination that I had led, and also two messages on assurance: true assurance and false assurance, the contrast between these. And he sent me a note afterwards, a letter, to say that he was in absolute accord with everything that I had said in those messages. And then when I talked to him later over the telephone, when I was in Toronto, he urged me to publish more on the subject of predestination.
And I told him I was reluctant to do so, because first of all, there was much misunderstanding on the subject in the church. And secondly, I like to preach positively, not negatively. I don't want to knock things down; I want to build things up. But unfortunately, sometimes in order to build something up on a particular foundation, you have to pull down the other structure. And I'm very reluctant to do so. And as you know, I have not preached on this subject of predestination ever. And this will be the first time. Because there is a scriptural doctrine of predestination, and there is an unscriptural doctrine of predestination.
But I want to tell you right away why I'm going into this subject of predestination today. Because I have a very positive and practical concern. Because it has to do with the plan and purpose of God for each one of us. And I don't want to be so put off with a certain type of doctrine of predestination that I will not even speak on the scriptural doctrine of predestination. And what is the scriptural doctrine of predestination? I put it very simply in one sentence, and then I have to develop it more fully. It is that God has planned in advance, predetermined, something for you and for me. He has a plan. And that plan, Paul tells us, is that you and I are going to be conformed to the image of His Son.
Now why do I want to go into this wonderful matter of God's plan for you and for me? For this very practical reason. It is because we have experienced such wonderful things at the camp. And what can easily happen after such a wonderful time at the camp is this: well, you are going to go home, like our dear brother Howard now. What he says, he is going to leave for summer in Montreal and go back to winter — the spiritual winter and cold and freeze out there in the loneliness and lack of fellowship down in Colombia. And he said to me so many times, he said, "You know, I just don't want to leave this place. I don't want to leave this place." But his visa expired yesterday, and yesterday he had to leave. I felt a sadness for him. But I know that for all of us, someone says, we have had a vision on the mountaintop — on the mount of transfiguration. But now we have to go forth. And what shall we do when we go forth? Shall we simply let the vision fade away? Shall we just be left with sweet memories of the past that from time to time we'll think about? Shall we just occasionally in the future look at some photographs of the beautiful lake Kanawana and think of those dear ones with whom we had such sweet fellowship, and pine for the days when once again it will be possible to meet again? Shall we just take it in this way?
Well, our sister Winnie just shared with us at the prayer fellowship that that would be very passive. And one of her problems was passivity. And maybe many Christians are simply too passive. What would be the active attitude in this? It would be to carry the vision forward. To say this is just the beginning — not the end of a sweet song, but the beginning of a new concept. We are going to go forward with this vision. To build that vision not only in that camp, but so help us God, we will carry that vision to the ends of the earth and build up His body.
But to do that, we need more than just passivity. Activity in this case would mean what? It would mean to have a plan. To think through this matter carefully. Not to wallow in sentimentality, but to pull ourselves together and say, "Here is a vision. And how am I going to get this vision to spread to all His church? What are the steps that can be taken? What is my part in this whole thing?"
Brother, dear Brother Jeffrey and myself, we were sharing these things. And immediately I perceived that the Spirit of the Lord was working in his life, because I saw that he was not intending to be passive. He thought about the things that happened at the camp, the effect that it has upon his life, as it has had upon all of us. And immediately he was thinking, planning. Very positive. "We've got to get this back to England. We've got to do something about this in England." But the next question is, "Okay, to get this to England — how to do it?" And immediately he thought to himself, "I can't do this without some training." And so the next question is, "How do I get the training?" Because I can't build disciples in England and spread the vision of the Lord if I haven't got the training, if I don't know how to do this. So the next step is how to get the training. And immediately I saw, as he discussed the matter and shared with me, that he was thinking in very practical ways, planning, as it were, a spiritual campaign. Planning each step to see how to solve this problem. He had signed already some contract with some organization — how to deal with this. I could see immediately, without any prompting on my part, that he was already working out the steps. Planning.
Now we must learn this attitude. Instead of saying, "How sweet were those days. Ah, what a pity we can't always live like that. Maybe we should all move back to camp Shalom again. So sweet. What are we doing here in Montreal again? Let's all hire the buses and go back." We know this is not going to work out. Some people have got to go back to their jobs. Others have to go to school. But you see, we have not grasped the point that to keep the fire burning requires a certain strategy, a certain planning. And this is the point of this message that the Lord lays upon my heart. Because that's the way, you see, God does things. He pre-planned. Before the foundation of the world, He had worked out a plan for mankind. And that is what the biblical doctrine of predestination is about. It literally means — "destination" means where you are going. "Pre-destination," if you want to take these words quite picturesquely — that's not quite the dictionary definition of it, but it doesn't matter to us — "pre-destination" is that we have determined the destination of where we are going. And now having fixed the destination, we're going to have to plan how we get there. Now without a destination, you don't know where you're going. And when you have a destination, then you can plan the route to it. You see?
And we are learning what it is to be spiritual by seeing the way God does things. I find this exceedingly exciting. That God, before the foundation of the world, was already planning. Every spiritual man — I think the spiritual man, being led by the Spirit, means you sit there in your armchair, twiddling your thumbs, and waiting for the Spirit of the Lord to lead you. And then maybe when He says something, then you finally say, "Yes Lord, what is it? I've been sitting here waiting for three days, doing absolutely nothing." Well, that's exactly the problem, you see.
When I was in the camp, I shared with you why I went swimming every day. It's not just so I can waste some time and just because I enjoy swimming. I didn't have time to swim, as a matter of fact. But I had to weigh up the matter in my mind. Am I going to spend these two hours in counseling, or am I going to spend two hours on swimming? My preference would be, "Let's put these two hours in counseling." But that strategy would have been a disaster, because knowing my physical limitations, I knew that after a few days of this, I wouldn't be able to preach when it came to my turn to preach the last message. I would have been so mentally and physically exhausted, I would have been useless. So I had to plan, within what the time and the physical limitations, how I'm going to deal with this. And I determined, I've got to put these two hours aside to exhaust myself physically so that I can sleep properly, so that I can do the job properly when it comes to my turn.
A spiritual man is a man who acts wisely in spiritual things. He looks at the situation, he surveys it, he uses those gifts that God has given to him, he exercises them thoroughly. Because let me tell you this: when you have not done your part, don't expect that God will do your part for you. And He will turn us all into vegetables if we do that. If He allowed us simply to sit back and He did all the thinking for us and He did all the planning for us and He did all the leading for us — I mean, every Christian will become a cabbage before the end of his life. No. God expects us to be like Him. This is what perfection is — to be conformed to His image. How does He do things? He plans things from before the foundation of the world right up to the end of the world. That's the way He does things. And to be in His image means we learn to do things the way He does things. When we have done our part, God will lead us. But He is not going to encourage laziness on our part. You can be sure of it.
So this is the reason why we come to this message. And let's begin then. I have to put this question of predestination. Being led by the Spirit means, of course, that if the Spirit leads us, He knows where He is taking us. And in fact, He wants us to know where He is taking us so that we can cooperate with Him. He doesn't drag us. He doesn't say, "As many as are dragged by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." I don't see that here in the Bible. So the good Christian is the guy who has a long necktie and says, "Here it is, Lord," and he gets dragged along. That's a very, very fine Christian.
It may sound funny to you, but it's sometimes pitiful how absurd some kind of Christianity gets. I heard once of certain sects of Christians that combed their hair in a particular way somewhere in the Middle Ages. I wonder if you've heard of that. And the way to comb the hair was to comb it all upwards and to tie it, therefore, into a pigtail that goes upwards. Now, if you ask them, "What is this hairstyle for?" "Ah," they said, "there is reason in this madness." Indeed, I'm trying to figure out what is the reason. So he said, they will tell you that, you see, the reason is because they believe in the rapture. Now, you know what is the rapture. The rapture is that before the coming of the Lord, He is going to catch all Christians and lift them up to meet Him in the clouds before He comes back again with all His saints. And so they thought that they would be very kind to cooperate with the angels who are going to rapture them and to make the whole thing easy. So that's why the hair was... so that you pick them up and the angels will rapture them on high. So maybe we have special twine so that the Holy Spirit can lead us, you see, and we can go along like this. How do you think this is? It's certainly absurd. I mean, no sensible Christian believes this. It's amazing what things people will believe — even this kind of a hairstyle. Of course, Brother Dennis would be in big trouble with it. His chances of being raptured would have been very poor in the following of this teaching. Maybe mine might not be so good either.
So being led by the Spirit means that He has a plan and He wants us to know that plan so that we can cooperate with Him as we go along this way. What is the plan? It's part of what we want to look at. But very basically, this preconceived, prearranged plan of God is what the Bible means by predestination. And so, I will not try to cover some of the material that was covered in that Bible study some time ago, but try to show you two main things about predestination.
The first I have already mentioned: that predestination in the Bible means that God has prepared a destination. He has prepared in advance a destination for us — the direction of our life where He wants us to go, and He wants us to know that destination. For example, when the Israelites came out of Egypt, they didn't just wander around having no idea where they were going. They were already told, "We are going to be taken to the land flowing with milk and honey." And that land there among the Canaanites — they knew where they were going, and they knew what God expected of them, that they would be serving Him. They would go and live for Him, and that they would go forth to this land of promise where they could worship Him and serve Him in freedom without being under the bondage of Pharaoh, the bondage of Egypt. Land flowing with milk and honey — they were already told.
Much as the Lord Jesus tells us in John chapter 10, verse 10: "I am come that you may have life and have it in all its abundance." You see, milk and honey is simply a picture of abundance. And that picture that the Israelites had, that God would lead them forth, was that He would lead them forth into a life of abundance, pictured by milk and honey. And so the Lord Jesus calls us to live in the fullness of the spiritual life. And the leading of the Spirit is to lead us not into some kind of slavery, not into some kind of misery, but into the spiritual fullness, which, however, like the Israelites, must of necessity pass through the wilderness, as the Lord Jesus also plainly tells us. It will go through a narrow road, a difficult road, a road that involves suffering. He doesn't call us on false pretenses. That abundant life must follow the road that goes through the wilderness, just as the Israelites did. But those who will go through that wilderness, being led by His Spirit, will enter into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land of abundance.
So the Israelites knew where they were going. They knew very well, and they could even see who was leading them in front. The fact that they did not get there — at least the majority did not get there — was that by no means because they didn't know where they were going, nor by any means because they didn't know who was leading them. They rather turned to the flesh and to rebellion against the Spirit of the Lord. Even as it's written in the Old Testament, "They rebelled against the Lord and grieved His Holy Spirit," as unfortunately many Christians do.
So the first point that is grasped very clearly then is that God has planned before the foundation of the world where you and I are going. Now that's very important for us to know, because that is what I said in the camp: there is a general leading and there is a specific leading. And let me say to you again that you will get no specific leading until you are within the general leading. That's why you need to know the plan. If you don't know, you're not going in the general direction. If you are going off in some other tangent, in some other direction, and you are asking the Lord to lead you in the specifics, you're wasting your time. He's not in the least going to answer you. And therefore, if you are mystified why God is so quick to answer some people and is utterly silent as far as other people are concerned, it's for the simple reason that those people He answers are going in the general direction which God has already revealed. If you are not following His general revelation, His general leading, there's no use asking for specifics. There's no use saying, "Lord, do You want me to go to Vancouver or Winnipeg, to study here or study there?" If you are not following His general leading, it doesn't matter to Him if you are going to Vancouver or Winnipeg or anywhere else for that matter. Why does it matter to Him? Because you are in the wrong direction anyway. There's no point for Him to lead you at all — not until you get your whole direction right.
I shared at the camp how the Lord led me in specific things. But He would never lead me in those specific things unless I first got my life in tune with His predetermined plan for each one of us. This is the vital thing for each one of us to understand.
Now, let me touch very briefly on some of the points on predestination. Predestination has often been so taught as to mean that certain people have been predetermined by God to go to heaven and others were simply left to slide into hell. That's to put predestinarian doctrine in its most generous manner. That is called single predestination. What is called double predestination means that God has both determined in advance who will go into eternal life and He has also predetermined who will go into eternal condemnation, into the fires of hell — that He determined the one and He determined the other. Single predestination simply wants to say He didn't predetermine who will go to hell, but He just predetermined who will go to heaven. Of course, such reasoning is both woolly and nonsensical, because if He had already predetermined who is going to heaven, then of course those who are not predetermined to go to heaven have nowhere else to go but to hell. I mean, where else are they going to go? So whether you hold single predestination or double predestination, it is logically exactly the same thing. It's just sheer nonsense to argue that there is any difference.
But either way, the doctrine of predestination as presented by certain people, notably our Calvinistic friends, is that God has determined some of you here are going to heaven but some will go to hell. Not for any wrong that you did — bear this careful point out — just as you are not saved by your own efforts, so neither are you lost by your own efforts. Very logical indeed, and what a wretched doctrine is this. No, no. And then they point to the Bible and say, "See, predestination in the Bible."
Let's turn to the Bible. Romans chapter 8, verses 28 to 30. Romans chapter 8, verses 28 to 30. And this is what we read in this passage: "We know that in everything God works for good with those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He — that is, that Jesus — might be the firstborn among many brethren. And those whom He predestined He also called; and those whom He called He also justified; and those whom He justified He also glorified."
Now let me say at once that the word translated here as "predestined" is used only in the Pauline corpus — that is, in the Pauline books of the New Testament. It's not used anywhere outside the Pauline books of the New Testament, and that is something we should take note of. It occurs only five times in Paul, this particular word translated as "predestined," and as I said, outside the Pauline writings, which constitute perhaps somewhat less than one third of the New Testament, this word occurs nowhere else at all. It occurs only once in Acts and five times in Paul.
Now look carefully at what Paul is saying here. "Whom He foreknew," it says in verse 29, "He also predestined." Right? Wrong. You should never so read this passage of Scripture as to stop at the word "predestined." That is where the error is being made. What is it we read here? "For whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son." The predestination is not who, but to what. That is the important thing. He predestined to be conformed. It is His predetermined plan that those whom He foreknew — and those who would then be justified, those who would be called — He had predetermined that they are going to be conformed to the image of His Son. That is what it says here. It is very important that we see clearly what is being said. And the second time, in verse 30, is merely repeating what has been said in verse 28 in the use of the word. And so out of five times that Paul is using this word, two times already occur in this passage.
Now the next time occurs in Ephesians. But we can just stop at Corinthians. 1 Corinthians chapter 2, verse 7. 1 Corinthians chapter 2, verse 7. And here the word is not translated as "predestined," but it's the same Greek word. Here it's simply translated as "decree." "But we impart a secret..."
# Regeneration and Renewal: True and False Predestination (Part 2)
There's a whole Greek word there, but some translations have "decreed before the ages" and various other things by which they translate this word. But if you look at it again, you see it's not people who are predestined. It is His plan that is predestined. It is His hidden wisdom which God has predestined before the ages. For what? For our glorification. There is His plan. The plan is that we should be glorified. How will we be glorified? By being conformed to the glorious image of His Son.
Okay, so we have three occurrences already looked at, and let's now turn to the remaining two which are in Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 1, verse 5. Ephesians 1:5. And what we read here is: "He predestined us" — or "destined us," and some other translations — notice there's no consistency in how the word is translated in English. "He predestined us in His love." In my translation it has "to be His sons." Not quite a literal translation. Actually the word in the Greek here is: "He predestined us for adoption." That's the word — "huiothesia." Adoption. "Through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, which He freely bestowed on us." Again the word "glory" and "glorious grace." Interesting how every time this word occurs, it's in connection with something of His glorious plan, His glorious purpose.
Now, He has in His plan determined that we should enter into adoption. Now I'm going to return to this matter of sonship and adoption. Because "as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God." Okay. So we are talking about sonship. And how the word is used then in the New Testament is, first of all, that it has to do with a preconceived plan — that was my first point that I've already mentioned. But secondly, it always has to do with sonship in that plan of God. Notice, it has to do with our being predetermined to be, or to become, His sons — the adoption of sons.
But this has absolutely nothing to do with determining who will or will not be predetermined, who will or will not be adopted. Let's look at — just to prove this point to you — let's look at Romans chapter 9. Romans chapter 9, verse 4. Here He is talking about the fall of the Israelites from grace and they are cut off, cut off by God because of their disobedience. And this is what He reads in Romans 9:4: "They are Israelites, and to them belong the sonship." That's exactly the same word as we have in Ephesians chapter 1, verse 5. And for those who only read the English Bible, you have the unfortunate position of not knowing that you are still dealing with the same word. "The Israelites — to them belong the adoption, the sonship, the glory." Notice how predestination, sonship, glory are constantly being connected by Paul. "The covenant, the giving of the law, the worship, the promises of God. To them belong the patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, is Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen." That's what Paul writes here.
Now, what happened to the Israelites who were given the adoption, the sonship? That very passage is telling us that they were cut off. Far from talking about being predestined to eternal salvation, they were predestined to sonship. That was God's plan for the Israelites. God planned glory for the Israelites. God planned sonship and adoption. But predestination in the biblical sense is never unconditional. When they failed to meet the necessary conditions, they were cut off. That's what the whole thing from Romans 9 to 11 is about. Anyone who thinks that predestined to sonship and adoption means that you can never be lost doesn't begin to understand the New Testament.
Now, this is all very vital to understand. One last passage, and we take it to verse 11. Ephesians 1:11. "In Him" — and notice again — "according to the purposes of Him, the plans of Him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of His will." Verse 12: "We who first hoped in Christ have been destined and appointed" — and don't stop again at predestined, but "destined and appointed to live for the praise of His glory." I will live His love to show. Why? Because that's what I've been predestined to in God's eternal purpose. That's the destination that He has planned for me.
And when you look at it — and by the way, I should just mention that in the Greek text, "predestined" occurs in verse 11. In our English text, it occurs in verse 12. Again, you see that predestined has to do immediately with the plan that we should live to the praise of His glory. And that means when you are not living to the praise of His glory, you are not living according to His plan, and like the Israelites who fail to live according to God's plan of adoption, of sonship, of glory, and of the covenants and worship and promises, they were cut off.
That's why I say to you, predestination in the New Testament sense has nothing to do with who God determines to save or not to save. Predestination in the biblical sense, as I mentioned earlier, has to do with a destination which has already been determined in advance. The Israelites knew where they were going, what God's purpose for them was. He wanted to bring all of Israel. But did they get there? Predestination did not mean that because He predetermined that they should get to the promised land, that they all got to the promised land. They did not get there, because of their disobedience to the Lord.
Now this is most vital for us to understand. There is a related word in the Greek that refers to — has a similar idea of predestination. And we turn finally also to this passage in Acts chapter 17. Acts chapter 17, verses 26 and 27. And I want to show you how very contrary again in God's thinking is the idea of predetermination as to who would be saved. Acts chapter 17, verses 26 and 27: "And He made" — that is, God made — "from one, from one origin, every nation of men to live on all the face of the earth, having predetermined allotted periods and the boundaries of their habitation." Predetermined. This is not the same Greek word as we saw in the other five passages, but it speaks of — has the same basic meaning: something determined in advance. And notice verse 27: "that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel after Him and find Him." "In the hope that" — do you know who is hoping here? Just look at who is the subject of this passage. See it? It is God. God made of one origin every nation, and He made them in the hope that they might feel after Him and find Him. Now if He had already predetermined them, He doesn't have the hope anymore.
Now this brings me to another point concerning perfection and the leading of the Spirit. The whole wrong doctrine of predestination is based on a complete misconception of what spirituality is and what God is like. The point at issue is not whether God can and has the power to predetermine whether you will be saved or not. Nobody wants to argue about that. God is God, and if He wants to predetermine to save you, He can save you, and if He doesn't want to save you, He doesn't have to save you. Okay, who can argue about that? If He wants to crush your will by crushing an ant, who can stand up to Him? Nobody can. What can a vessel say to its maker? "I don't want to go the way you want." He can crush you. He can smash you to pieces. He can throw you away in the garbage. Sure He can.
But the point is not what He can do, but what is His character like? Does He do this kind of thing? And the answer is no, He doesn't. And a doctrine of predestination that says that certain people are predetermined to go to heaven and others will simply be left to go to hell doesn't understand the nature of God. Because God simply doesn't act like that. The almighty God created all men, it says here in verse 27, in the hope that... You say, "Why does God have to hope? He can just say, 'You, you, you'll be saved; you guys just go to hell.'" Does that sound familiar to us? It sounds very carnal, does it not? "God, my sheep know my voice" — we listen to the ring of that sound, and that doesn't sound like the God I know. No, no. When you evermore learn to walk with God, you don't behave like that.
In the eyes of God, human beings are not like a basket of fish there in which you buy fish and you say, "Okay, give me those three and throw the rest away. I don't want the rest. Just give me these three. I have determined in my power that I'm going to take these three and the others I don't want." Or I go to a market and I want to buy some cattle, and I say, "Okay, these three I want. I don't want the rest of this." Or I am the owner of cattle, and I'm going to say, "These three I'll keep alive; the rest go to the slaughterhouse." Oh, what feelings of power. No spiritual man behaves like this. The more you walk with God, the less you are like that.
Some people have come to me — parents of some of those in training, for example — and said, "Why don't you just tell my son or my daughter to go home? I don't want them to be here. You tell them to go. They won't listen to me, they'll listen to you. You say 'go' and they will go." I say, "My dear man, I don't function like this." The point is not whether they will listen to me, but I am not in the habit of running other people's lives. And even if they will listen to me, I will not do it. They must learn to make their own decisions. They make their own plans. I don't run their lives for them. "But they say they are under your training." Sure, they are under my training. That doesn't mean just because they are under my training I feel I have the right to tell them what they should do. And if I, imperfect as I am, will refuse to abuse authority or the confidence that people place in me, do you think God will? I think not. That's not my God. My God doesn't treat people, as I said, like a bunch of fish and He just determines He's going to take these three fish that He caught and He's going to eat them, and the rest He's going to throw away in the garden because they're too small, they're too whatever He doesn't like about that type. And there you go.
My God — my God is a wonderful God. He who could determine what He will do with you rather stands back and hopes. Hopes, as it says in this beautiful passage, that you might feel after Him and find Him. He could crush you like an ant. That's not the question of what He could do. The question is what He is. That is the beauty of my God. It touches my heart. That is the God I serve, and I glory in Him. "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man will open to me, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." My King and my God stand in front of some door — He, the Creator of heaven and earth, stand in front of your door. He need only blow gently and your door would fly down. He will say, "Even that door is Mine. That you live in — that house is Mine you live in. I have the right to come into that house, and you will just open that door." You don't open it? "I'll break it." Then maybe that's the carnal reasoning. Not Jesus. He respects us.
Can you grasp this thing, that the eternal God respects you and me? Can you grasp this? Amazing. The carnal man respects nobody. He wants to get his way. His way of doing this: "I want this, and you — it's too bad for you." But the spiritual man doesn't behave like this. Neither does my God behave like this. He respects us. If you don't open the door, He will not break the door down. He will just stand outside that door. The King of heaven and earth stand outside your door. Amazing. And here comes a doctrine of predestination and says, "Oh no, God steamrollers everybody. His grace is irresistible. He smashes everything in His way." What God are they talking about? Must be you are worshipping some other God. That's not my God. My God is not like this.
"Learn of me," the Lord Jesus says in Matthew chapter 11, "for I am meek and lowly in heart." And because He is meek and lowly, He has not steamrollered your life, has He? He could steamroller your life. He could snuff you out. When you say no to Him — you dare to say no to Him? He is, you know who He is. You know what you are. He can walk over you. He could crush your life. He says, "You serve Me full time." You don't serve Me full time? Good. You are dead tomorrow. Can you argue with Him? You are finished. Then He'll wipe you out. That's the way the mafia works. "You don't give me the money, I'll shoot you tomorrow." That's great. And what do you do? You want to turn my God into a mafia boss? What is this doctrine of predestination that says God is so sovereign that He will choose some and send the others to hell? Don't disgrace my God. My God is not like this. He respects the little you and the little me.
What a God! What a God! And some people say, "See, I don't believe in God. I curse God and He hasn't wiped me out." It's simply because you don't know who God is. There's no problem for Him to wipe you out. There's no problem. But He's not going to descend to your level. He's not going to descend to the level of a gang fighter, even less is He going to descend to the level of a mafia boss. You insult a mafia man and he'll kill you right away. You insult God and He doesn't even say a word. They spat in the face of the Lord Jesus — and He spat back? No. I wonder what He did when they spat in His face. Did He just let the spittle run? Did He wipe it? But He couldn't wipe it — His hands were tied. Or did He just look gently at the person who did such a thing and say, "Father, forgive him. He doesn't know what he does." That is my Jesus.
What kind of a God do you believe in? Predestined to hell? How dare anyone portray God in this fashion? How can we preach a Jesus who goes to the cross, who was mocked, ridiculed, laughed at, spat upon, and never raised a hand, and as He was dying said, "Father, forgive them"? That is my Jesus.
I tell you this: since I became a Christian, I learned to respect people. Before I became a Christian, I respected nobody. I was too arrogant. I saw very few people who were my intellectual equal, and therefore I despised people. I despised Christians. I could walk over them in any argument, even if they're twice my age, three times my age. I could make fun of them. I could walk circles around them. I could play jokes with them, and they didn't even know what to do with me. I could so argue them into the ground that they couldn't even remember what was the doctrine they were holding originally. And therefore I despised Christians. I despised the common lot of men. They're just non-entities. I mean, it's just nothing. And no respect for people. I exploited them. I used them.
But God did such a work with me when Jesus came into my life. I have such a respect for people — the humblest of all I regard as something better than I am in many ways, because now the decisive issue is not how clever you are. The decisive issue is how Christlike you are. And I look around and I see many people far more Christlike than I am in many respects. And I say this — this is not humility. I'm not trying to be modest. I'm saying to you the absolute truth of this matter. And therefore I respect. I respect those who train with me or train under me. I respect them. Never do I dare to run their lives, any more than God runs our life. If we are willing, He will lead us by His Spirit. If we are not willing, He will not drag us. Have you noticed that? He doesn't drag you. He will not coerce you. If you don't invite Him into your life, He won't say a word. In fact, He will go away.
I'm touched by the fact that when the Lord Jesus rose from the dead — risen from the dead, having conquered over death and all the powers of hell — and He walked with these two disciples on the road to Emmaus, did you notice what He did when He came in front of their house, which might as well be His house since these are His disciples? He made, the Scripture says, as though He would go on. That is, He would not impose Himself even upon His own disciples. He would not impose Himself. He would not cause them any disturbance. He would not even enter their house unless they invited Him in. Did He say, "I am the King. I rose from the dead just now. I have defeated all the powers of hell, and you two guys are my disciples, right? And here I am. I have arrived. I am walking in. Get me the supper. Where is my supper? I am hungry right now." That is how the worldly person behaves. But He just walks on. "It's good to have talked with you. I am going on now." "Hey, please stay! Please stay!" After a moment, finally He concedes. "Okay, thank you for inviting me in." What a King! What graciousness! What respect He has for two people who even couldn't sort out their understanding of the resurrection, who were supposed to be His disciples and didn't understand what He was teaching. I mean, He could have said, "You ignorant guys, what's the matter with you? You guys are supposed to be disciples. Now sit down here. Get my supper first. And when I am full, I am going to give you a few more lessons." Oh no, no, no. The beauty of the Lord Jesus — the respect that He has for the lowly, the foolish, the ignorant, even His disciples. That is my God and my King.
And He has a plan. He has a plan for each one of us. I don't want to dwell much more on all these errors of the Calvinistic doctrines of predestination, but let me begin to summarize and close this message with a few positive points that I really want to come to quickly. The more the Spirit leads you, as I say, the more Christlike you'll become. And the more Christlike you'll become, the more gracious, the more humble, the more genuinely respectful you'll become of others. Now that's very important to grasp.
Now, I've said — notice well — that predestination has to do with sonship. I don't want to waste time going into this business of "once a son, always a son" and all this kind of nonsense. Let me just point out to you very quickly that in the Scripture there are many categories of sons, and as I searched through the Scripture, I found that there is no category of son which has not failed. Amazing, isn't it? Here, quickly, a few examples.
The first category, of course, of sons is what are known as the angels in the Bible. The angels are called sons of God. But those sons of God fell. The angels fell, and this is also well known, and I won't go into details. The second category — the second person who was called the son of God in the Bible was in fact Adam. Adam is called a son of God, as you can see for yourself, because he physically owed his origin to God in a direct manner, and he is called a son of God in Luke chapter 3, the last verse, that is, verse 38. And of course we all know that this son of God fell, and fell how badly he did so. The angels fell. So did Adam.
A third category of son of God, of course, is Israel. We just read in Romans chapter 9, verse 4: "To them was given the sonship," and they were cut off. And you can see the sonship of Israel spoken of in Hosea chapter 11, verse 1, for example; Exodus chapter 4, verse 22, and so on and so forth. But these sons were cut off. Never say to yourself that because it says in Ephesians chapter 1, verse 5, that we were predestined to adoption and sonship, that we cannot be lost. Every son, every category of son of God in the Scripture, has failed. And even the parable of the Lord Jesus in Luke chapter 15 speaks of a fallen son, a lost son. But in this case, thanks be to God, he repented and returned. But the angels who fell — those sons of God who fell — for them there was no return. No way back. Was there a way back for Adam? I don't know.
But then notice the verse: it says we are predestined to be sons, and these are sons who are predestined in God's plan. But then, "those who are led by the Spirit are sons of God." So when you put these two things together, we can simply say it was God's predetermined plan that we should be led by the Spirit if we are to be His sons and His daughters. Now that's very vital to grasp.
But our time is gone, and there is so much more here. Now let me just conclude then with the fact — as I finish with what I began with — God has planned in advance a wonderful plan for His people. His plan is that we should be perfect, that is, conformed to His image, be led by the Spirit. His plan is that we should be sanctified in Him. "The will of God," Paul says in Thessalonians, "is your sanctification."
But finally, let me say this again: remember that being spiritual has to do with strategically, wisely, cheerfully working out a plan. God has a plan for you. You cooperate with Him in that plan. But on top of that, God wants you to work out a plan for yourself. Did you realize that? Let me just, in closing, look at 2 Peter chapter 1, verse 5. 2 Peter 1:5. Someone mentioned this in the camp. 2 Peter 1:5: "For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness," and the list goes on and on. He says, "Make every effort to do this." Plan the direction. And here I will tell you the steps you need to take. Okay, now you say to yourself, "You have faith? Well, now supplement virtue to faith. And when you have virtue, supplement spiritual knowledge and understanding of the Word of God to that. And when you have that, add to that self-control." Plan your progress, step by step, spiritually, in a wise, carefully planned manner. That, brothers and sisters, is the secret of perfection. That is the secret of power.
And so as we close, I say to you, don't just sit back and say, "It's been a wonderful time at the camp." Remember, God has a plan for you. He has a predetermined plan. He has a destination for you in advance — a predestination for you. And you and I are going to walk along that plan. But then not passively, not being dragged by the Spirit, but cooperating with Him. And so what I urge you to do — if you have not done so so far, and I've seen Brother Jeffrey has been doing this as I mentioned to you earlier — but every one of you today, when you go back this evening, sit down before the Lord very quietly and say, "Lord, I've caught a vision at the camp. You have kindled a fire in my heart, and now I want to know how to build this fire up, by Your grace, by Your enabling, to something ever brighter, ever stronger, ever purer, ever clearer. And show me the steps that I need to take. How do I deal with this problem in my life? How do I deal with that?" Plan your entire spiritual campaign. And the fire that God kindled in your heart in the camp will not only never grow dim — it will grow brighter and brighter and stronger as the days go on.
And I say this particularly for those dear ones who will be leaving us very soon — those going to Singapore, to Hong Kong, to Australia, and even those to Toronto or to Guelph or to Ottawa — wherever you are going, remember this. Let the Lord lead you as you plan a campaign, a spiritual battle, so that next year this time, when we get together — if we do get together in this place or in Hong Kong or wherever — the fire that God has started in your heart will be even brighter than it is now. And far from losing the vision and having just sentimental feelings of the past, you have pressed on towards the mark, as we sang in the theme song. Remember this, that God will work most graciously, because He is more anxious to work in you than you ever realize.
One final note. Who do you ever make plans for in your life in advance? Now, if you are a single person, you may never have planned for anyone or anything else but yourself. But if you are a married person, you know that you make plans, and you always make plans for those you love, isn't it? The predestination of God in the biblical sense is evidence of how much God loves you. Oh, try to grasp it, my dear brothers and sisters, when you leave this place, try to grasp it, that God has planned for you because He cares for you. Why else would He make a plan for you? I don't plan what's going to happen to your life. I cannot. But I do make plans for those I love in my own family. If you are a father, you will make plans for your children. You plan in advance: where is that my child going to go for education? And what happens after that? And after that? Why do you make those plans? Why do you sit down and think, "Would it be better for my child to go to this school or to that school, in this country or that country?" Why do you plan all this? Because you love them. Why else? You plan good things for people that you love. You don't plan anything for people you don't care about. But God loved us with such a love that He has planned for us before the foundation of the world. He has planned. Try to grasp this. He cares for you so much that He doesn't just let things happen to you. He has worked everything out long beforehand. What a God.
Let us be quiet before God in prayer.