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Message 24 - By Leroy Surface

According to His Purpose

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, them who are the called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28

Introduction

Sometimes that which the Lord would say to us can be offensive. One day after He had finished teaching, the disciples came to Jesus saying, “Master, do you know the Pharisees were offended at your teaching?” Jesus answered, “Leave them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. If the blind lead the blind, they shall both fall into the ditch.” That was a sad thing, because that which Jesus had to say was for the Pharisees also. I came over to the church early this morning seeking the Lord for the message. I returned home just in time to eat a bowl of cereal and dress for service. As I ate I was also watching the religious telecast of a ministry I have always appreciated for their music and worship. As I sat, eating and watching, I was also thinking about “the idea” in Christianity today, that we are God’s “end;” that is to say, we are what God “purposed” from the beginning of the world. I’m speaking about the belief that God’s greatest will is to fulfill our dreams, ambitions, and pleasures in this present life; because “it is all about us.” At the same time, in the background a young lady was singing a beautiful song. The music was perfect behind her beautiful voice, and the congregation was responding in worship as they both heard and felt the message of the song. At the same time that I was thinking about what God had spoken to me, I was also thinking about the beautiful song. “We should learn that song. It is beautiful, has a good message, and people can worship with it.” It wasn’t until I actually “heard” the last phrase of the song (I had already heard it several times) that I realized I was rejoicing in two different things; things that contradicted each other. The words of the song were saying, “He did it all for me,” and that is a beautiful thought. It is a thought that anyone would love to hear; and at certain times, may need to hear. On the other hand I was remembering the text of Ezekiel 36:22, where God foretells the wonderful redemption that would come to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He said to Israel, “I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name’s sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen.” God was telling about a “new creation” wherein He would give the people a “new heart” and a “new spirit,” which is what this wonderful salvation God has given us is all about. God said, it’s “…not for your sake... (that I) do... this, but for my holy name sake.” When we get the idea that we are the “end” of God’s purpose; that is when we will begin to die. I cannot accept the idea that He “did it all for me,” if I am not also very aware that He “did it all… for my worst enemy;” for the neighbor no one wants anything to do with; for the person who has never yet heard the name of Jesus; and for the person who sits in a room somewhere, with demons screaming in their ear, saying it doesn’t work; all because they have come in contact with those who believe “He did it all for me.”

“That We Should Be…”

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

Ephesians 1:1-12

Who can read these introductory words to Paul’s letter to the Ephesians without being overwhelmed with the magnitude of all He did for us when He suffered and died on the cross for us. We are “blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus.” We are “chosen in Him to be holy and without blame before Him in love.” We have “redemption through his blood,” and “forgiveness of sins” in the riches of His grace. It is in the last four verses of this introduction that the “mystery of His will” is revealed, which is based upon “his good pleasure which he has purposed in Himself.” God’s “will” and “purpose” is to “gather together in one all things in Christ.” This is the purpose for which Jesus suffered and died on the cross, that sinful man could be reconciled to God in Christ through the cross. Paul continues, “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will.” In the next fifteen words, Paul lays out the purpose of all that Jesus did for us at Calvary; “That we should be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ.” The purpose of God is that “all should be gathered together in Christ.” His purpose for us is “to gather all into Christ” through the working of His Spirit in and through us to preach the gospel to every person on earth. My text for this message is “…the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will.”

Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus, our Lord:

Ephesians 3:8-11

The eternal purpose of God is simply that which he purposed before He made the first man. It is that which He “predestined” when He said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…” (Genesis 1:26). That was what He purposed; that is what He foreknew; that is what He predestined; and that is what He did. “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them” (Genesis 1:27). This would have been the end of the story, and life on earth would have been a paradise in perfect harmony between God and man except for one thing. Adam disobeyed God, and sin entered. The earth came under a curse because of sin, and every descendant of Adam was born with a nature that was polluted with sin. In spite of this, the purpose of God was neither changed nor thwarted. God will still have that which He purposed from the beginning, a people in His own image, after His likeness. The “eternal purpose” will not be fulfilled in “time” but in “eternity.” God’s “end,” that is, His “eternal purpose” will not be seen until every other “thing” has come to its end. Peter said, “Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (II Peter 3:13). That, in a nutshell, is God’s eternal purpose.

The “new heavens and new earth” will be a place where all the people will be in the “image and likeness of the Son of God,” and where Jesus Christ Himself will be the “firstborn among many brethren.” That is the ultimate “end” for a child of God. That is what God has purposed from and to all eternity. In this present world, we are not the “end” of God’s purpose. The “church” is not the “end;” and Israel was not the “end” that God has purposed. America is certainly not the “end” of God’s purpose. Wherever the scripture speaks of an “end” of one thing there is the beginning of another, and there will continue to be an “end” of things until we come to that of which there is no end. That will come only after this earth has “fled away” from the presence of Him that sits on the throne. That is after ever ungodly and sinful thing, and every other “thing” that is not redeemed and reconciled in Christ is cast into a burning fiery pit, and cast away from the presence of God, and out of sight of the righteous and the redeemed. Then comes that “new heavens and new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” Only then will we see and fully understand that which God predestined. 

I look again at the scripture that tells us we are “predestined according the purpose of Him who worketh all things according to the counsel of His own will.” The words “His own will” expresses all that He does to bring about that which He purposed from the beginning. God “works all things according to the counsel of His own will,” in everything that happens in this present time in relation to His eternal purpose. When Paul says in Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose,” we understand that it is God who “worketh all things for the good” of those who are “the called according to His purpose.”  

God is in Control

In everything that happens from the beginning of time until the end of time, during that period which is called “this present evil world (Galatians 1:4), we must understand that God is in control. There is nothing that happens that God does not turn toward His purpose, and will do so until His eternal purpose is seen. It is as God spoke to a “wicked prince of Israel” in Ezekiel 21:26-27; “Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.”  God, in “working all things after the counsel of His own will,” will continue to “overturn” until that comes which cannot be overturned. Until then, God will work His purpose in all things, whether they are yielded to Him or in rebellion against Him. They will be either “vessels of honor,” “vessels of dishonor,” or “vessels of wrath.”

We need to see a couple of things that Paul understood. The first is found in Philippians 1:20: “According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.” Paul proved to be a “vessel of honor.” He was not the center of his own world, believing God’s greatest will to be his personal pleasure. Paul’s expectation and hope was that Christ would be magnified in him “whether it be by life or by death.” Paul did not specify, “God, I will serve you as long as you bless me; I will seek to please you as long as everything goes well for me, and I do not suffer hardship.” Instead, Paul accepted God’s purpose for his life. He said, “I apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12).  This makes the difference between those who are “vessels of honor,” and those who are “vessels of dishonor.”

There is another truth we need to understand. If Saul of Tarsus (Paul) had not surrendered to Jesus on the Damascus road, God’s eternal purpose would not have been thwarted. God had chosen Saul of Tarsus to be a vessel of honor to the glory of God. Saul could have refused. God has never forced His will or purpose upon man. If Saul of Tarsus had refused, God would have been glorified in his destruction. People tend to think that God predestines and orders everything that happens, before it happens. This simply is not true. God has never denied the operation of the free will of any person. He did not force Adam away from the forbidden tree, even though it would have saved billions of yet unborn souls from the pain and death that entered with sin. Yet, from the moment Adam disobeyed, God began “working all things after the counsel of His own will.” He promised a redeemer to come, and began working all things to that end.

The second thing I will mention that Paul understood is found in I Corinthians 9:16-17. “For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me…” What are you doing for God?   What has God called you to do?  What has God purposed for you to do?  Does anyone here feel that God has called you to work for Him?  Or, are you only functioning out of your “human nature?” Think about this for a minute. Has God called you for a purpose? Has he called you to teach?  Has he called you to preach?  We know that He has called all of us to be witnesses unto Him, to give the gospel to “every creature” in every land. Paul doesn’t say that his calling is such that “if I want to do it ok, but if I don’t want to do it, ok.” He doesn’t say that your position or ministry in the church you attend is according to whether you want to be there are not, to fulfill your position or calling or not. Paul said, “…necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!  For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me!” (I Corinthians 9:16-17). If God has not committed a ministry to you, stop trying to do it, but if He has, be faithful to perform it. Seek the fullness of the Holy Ghost to work His work in you. Can you hear what Paul is saying?  There was a preacher in the Old Testament named Jonah that preached “against his will.” God “worked all things after the counsel of His own will” to get Jonah to Nineveh; He brought great “woe” upon Jonah until he became willing. Even through the storm, through being thrown overboard, and through the belly of the whale, God took Jonah to Nineveh. Jonah preached to Nineveh, and won the city. Paul realized that even if it was against his will to preach the gospel, yet “a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.” If Paul did not preach the gospel, he must still “give account” to God for the gospel that was committed to him.

“Paper Plates?”

And this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you. Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

I Corinthians 9:23-27

Paul spoke of the possibility of him being a “castaway.” He could either “present his body a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable unto God (Romans 12:1)” to be a “vessel unto honor, sanctified, meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work (II Timothy 2:21);” or he could accept the thought that salvation is “all about me, my pleasures and my ambitions.” If he took the latter course, he would be a vessel of dishonor, which after much longsuffering and chastening would at the last be cast away. That is what a vessel of dishonor is. We use them in our fellowship hall all the time. They are the “paper plates.” They are the plastic spoons and forks, and the plastic cups; things that are “useful” for a time and purpose, but afterwards discarded. America’s “great” prosperity of the last generation has been based upon “vessels of dishonor.” We build “throw away” cars, and “throw away” houses. Everything is made to “throw away;” it’s a “throw away” society we live in. A thousand years from now, if people want to know what life in present day America was like, they will have to go to the garbage dump. There are many preachers, some of whom have been mightily used by God in the past, who have become “castaways.” It is hard for me to relate, but I have seen numerous men in my lifetime that were mightily used by God, reaching multitudes, casting out devils, working miracles, and seeing unbelievable healings, yet over and over I have seen them come to their end in shame, because somewhere along their way, “they” became God’s “purpose” in their own sight. They became the “end,” rather than a “means” to the glory of God. They were lifted up in pride, and came to believe they were to be served by others rather than to serve. Even though God may have used them in their beginning, they refused the “chastening of the Lord,” and God’s great power was seen, even in their death and destruction. We do not like to think about these things.

For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.

Romans 9:17

Some people believe this text proves that God has predestined some to damnation. They believe that God raised Pharaoh up only to destroy him. The truth is, “Pharaoh,” is not a man’s name. There was never a man named “Pharaoh” in the bible. It is a title; it speaks of a “king” and his “kingdom.” In this text when the scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this purpose have I raised thee up,” it is not speaking of the man, but of the nation, the “Egyptian Empire,” which was ruled by a long series of men who were called “Pharaohs.” In the proper understanding of this text, there was one Pharaoh who God greatly exalted and blessed in the days of Joseph, and there was another, separated by four hundred years, that God destroyed in the depths of the Red Sea. God was not speaking specifically of either of these kings, but of the nation of Egypt itself. God had raised Egypt up in the days of Joseph to bless them to be a blessing to the house of Jacob. It was that same Egypt, four hundred years later, having hardened its heart against the purpose of God that must then be destroyed. God’s great power was revealed both in their beginning in which God blessed them above all nations of the earth, and in their utter destruction in the days of Moses. This horrible end was never the purpose of God for either the king or his kingdom. God has never let a woman conceive a child in her womb, and spoke of that child, saying, “This one I will destroy, and send to an eternal damnation.” It would be totally contrary to the nature of God to do so. We must get this matter clear in our own thinking. There is no one that we can lightly let go the hell, thinking it to be in line with the purpose of God for them. “After all,” we might think, “they were born in a Muslim nation, or a Buddhist, or Hindu nation;” no, that’s simply not the way it is. Jesus died for “all,” and when I fully understand that, I cannot rightly say, “He did it all for me,” because, “He did it all,” even for His, and our, worst enemies.

“The Chosen”

We know that God destroyed the entire race but for eight souls in the days of Noah, because “the imaginations of their hearts were only evil continually.” A little over four hundred passed, and it seemed the entire world was in spiritual darkness, and given over to idolatry. Out of that darkness, God called a man named “Abram.” Abram lived in a nation and a world that was given to idolatrous worship. Jewish tradition says that Abram’s father, Terah, was an idol maker. God said to Abram, “Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing.” The scripture says he “believed God” and he “obeyed God.” Abram came out of the land of idolatry, out of the house of his father, and came down to Canaan, where God revealed Himself to him. It was there in the course of time that “Abram” became “Abraham,’ the father of many nations.” Abram was called of God, and Abram, in coming, was chosen by God. If Abram had refused to come when God called, we might well be speaking about “Hamad, the father of many nations.” If Abram doesn’t believe, and if he doesn’t come, is God’s purpose thwarted?  Absolutely not!  God will call another who will hear the call and come, but Abram would have perished. When Abram believed God and came to Him, God committed himself to Abram. No one can take his place, because “in Abraham” God has chosen a “man.” This man will be the “father of many nations.”

There are four generations in a row, beginning with Abraham, that are important to the “eternal purpose and will of God.” Abraham’s first-born son was Ishmael, who was born of Hagar, the bondmaid, as a result of Abraham’s trying to fulfill the promise of God through his own abilities. God rejected Ishmael, saying that Sarah, Abraham’s ninety-year-old barren wife would give birth to a son. Abraham believed God, and received the promised son, Isaac. It was about the time that young Isaac was weaned that God told Abraham to send Hagar and Ishmael away, “for in Isaac shall thy seed be called” (Genesis 21:12).  In Isaac, God had chosen a “seed.” Isaac had two sons, Esau, the firstborn, and Jacob, the younger twin brother. Esau was the birthright son to whom all the inheritance and promise was to go, but Esau “despised his birthright.” It sounds incredible, but we could be talking about the tribes of “Edom” instead of the twelve tribes of Israel, but God “worketh all things after the counsel of His own will.” Esau despised his birthright, became a “vessel of dishonor,” and it was in Jacob that God chose a “nation,” and changed Jacob’s name to “Israel.”  Jacob had twelve sons and his firstborn was named “Judah,” and it was in Judah that God chose a “tribe.” Why was God doing all this “choosing?”  Not any one of these was the “end” that God had promised, but they were chosen for His purpose, to bring the promised redeemer. They became a “means” through which Jesus Christ would come. Even if they should become castaways, yet God’s purpose will be performed, because He “worketh all things according to the counsel of His own will.”

In Abraham, God chose a “man;” in Isaac, He chose a “seed;” in Jacob, he chose a “nation;” in Judah, He chose a “tribe;” in David, He chose a “family;” and in the Virgin Mary, He chose a “mother.” None of these were God’s “purpose,” but He chose all of them according to His purpose, to “bring forth the Son.” It is not a necessity that any of these even made it into heaven. Any one of them could have become “castaways,” but the purpose of God through them was to “bring forth His Son, Jesus.” You may say, preacher, how can you say such things about those that God “chooses?”  I can, because both the “nation” and the “tribe” that God chose turned away from God, and were, in fact, “cast away” (Romans 11:20).  

Kingdoms of This World

There have been seven “world empires” since the beginning. In the order of their existence they are Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, the Medes and Persians, Greece, Rome, and the seventh may yet be debated. Is it the “Holy Roman Empire” of history? Or is it, as some believe, the European “empire?” Or could America be the seventh and last great world empire?  It is traditional thought that the historic world empires were raised up by Satan to war against Israel. That simply is not true. Some teachers will protest; “but Egypt enslaved them; Babylon destroyed them; Rome held them in bondage, etc.” While it is true that all these things happened, it simply is not true that Satan raised these kingdoms up.  

There was a time when king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon was lifted up in pride and said, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?” (Daniel 4:30). In his pride, Nebuchadnezzar thought that every thing revolved around him. Immediately a voice spoke to him from heaven, saying, “The kingdom is departed from thee. And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will” (Daniel 4:31-32). God raised these empires up fulfill His purpose concerning Israel. For example, Egypt was raised up to succor the infant nation that God had chosen in Jacob. Assyria was raised up to chasten the ten idolatrous northern tribes of Israel. Babylon was raised up to preserve the righteous remnant while the wicked were slain by the famine, pestilence and the sword. The Medes and Persians were raised up to release the Jews after seventy years in captivity and finance the rebuilding of Jerusalem. All these great empires fulfilled their purposes, yet they, being but “vessels of dishonor,” were discarded in their end.

Jacob (Israel) had twelve sons. The next to the youngest was Joseph, greatly beloved of his father. His brothers, being moved by jealousy, sold Joseph to a traveling band of Ishmeelites, who sold him into slavery in Egypt. In Egypt Joseph was falsely accused by his master’s wife and cast into prison. After years in prison he interpreted a dream for Pharaoh’s butler, who was also in prison. Within three days the dream came to pass just as Joseph had said, and the butler was restored to his position. Two years later, Pharaoh was troubled by a dream and sought someone to interpret it. The butler remembered Joseph, who was then brought before the Pharaoh. Joseph interpreted the Pharaoh’s dream, which was of seven years of plenty to come, followed by seven years of famine. Immediately the Pharaoh exalted Joseph to the highest position in Egypt other than the throne itself. Under Joseph’s administration, Egypt planted and harvested bumper crops for seven years, and stored the grain in huge granaries. During the seven years of famine that followed, the wealth of the world flowed to Egypt, as the nations of the world came to purchase grain for their meager existence. God’s purpose for Egypt in this time that He raised them up was to sustain the infant nation that God had chosen in Jacob. When the famine came upon the earth, and while millions were starving worldwide, Egypt would be a place of safety, prepared by Joseph, for Jacob to come in his old age, along with his sons, and all his cattle, his sheep and his camels. The Pharaoh received them as friends, and gave the “land of Goshen,” to them, where they would live and graze their cattle. Pharaoh provided everything Jacob would need in the land of Goshen. This little “nation,” which was only seventy in number (Exodus 1:1-9), grew and prospered in the land of Goshen until they became a great and powerful people, more in number and mightier than the Egyptians.

After the death of Joseph, another Pharaoh rose to power that did not know Joseph. He saw the greatness of the children of Israel, and hardened his heart against the purpose of God. He saw the possibility that they could someday overpower Egypt if he did not suppress them. He set taskmasters over them and brought them into slavery. They were forced to build the treasure cities of “Pithom” and “Raamses” (Exodus 1:11).  He made a law that every male child born to the Israelites must be cast into the Nile River. He beat them with whips, and forced them to labor both night and day. He brought “change” to Egypt. He rebelled against the purposes for which God had made them a mighty nation. He hardened his heart against the children of Israel. Moses was born during the time that all male babies were to be cast into the river. His mother prepared a little “ark” for her baby, and placed him in the river, where he was found by Pharaoh’s daughter. He grew up in the palace of the Pharaoh as the “son of Pharaoh’s daughter.” Can you see how God “worketh all things after the counsel of His own will?” When Moses came of age, he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.  He defended a Hebrew against an Egyptian, and had to flee for his life into the wilderness. He spent the next forty years herding sheep for the daddy of a woman he married in the wilderness. Then one day he came to that burning, fiery, bush. The children of Israel had been in slavery for about a hundred years at this time, “slaves” to that same Egypt that God had raised up to sustain and bless them. At the “burning bush,” God told Moses, “I have heard their cry, and I am come down to deliver them.” God, who had been glorified in the existence of Egypt to bless His people, would now be glorified in their destruction. Egypt had become a “vessel of dishonor” that God once used for his purpose, but now must be destroyed. God had not purposed their destruction, but now, for the hardness of their hearts they must be destroyed. Egypt became a symbol of sin and Satan, for which Jesus suffered the cross to destroy.

Israel was delivered out of Egypt. They went to the “Mount of God” where they heard the voice of God speaking His Ten Commandments. The congregation of Israel, except for a very few, refused to hear or obey the voice of God. God told Moses to give them a law. It was called the “Law of Moses.” This was the law that was “added because of transgressions, till the seed should come, to whom the promise was given” (Galatians 3:19).  Galatians 3:23 tells us the children of Israel were “…kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.” The Law of Moses was like a prison they were “kept” and “shut up” in, to keep them until Jesus Christ would come. Coming on through the history of Israel, we see that Joshua brought them into the land of promise, where he led them for his lifetime. Afterwards, God gave judges to rule over Israel for several hundred years, but they desired a king. God gave them a king named Saul, who ruled them well until he became great in his own sight (I Samuel 15:17). Saul began to believe that God’s purpose was “all about me.” God rejected Saul and “found David,” as it was recorded in Acts 13:22, “I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.” In David, God chose a “house,” and the “family” the promise would come through. The kingdom was established in David, and Israel became the greatest among the nations. Under Solomon, Israel reached the pinnacle of its glory, power, and wealth, but because of Solomon’s taxation policies, the kingdom was divided into two kingdoms in the days of his sons. There was now the northern kingdom of ten tribes, and the southern kingdom of two tribes, which were Judah, and Benjamin. A string of wicked kings ruled in the northern kingdom of Israel with Ahab being the worst among them. It was under Ahab and his idolatrous wife, Jezebel that Israel was so totally given over to Baal worship that there were only seven thousand men in all the land who remained faithful to God. As the northern kingdom of Israel repeatedly turned away from God, He raised up the second world empire, “Assyria,” to punish them. The king of Assyria scattered these northern tribes of Israel among all the nations of the world, and brought people from other nations to settle in their land of Samaria. He sent priests from the captivity to instruct the new inhabitants in the proper way of worshiping God according the Law of Moses in the land of Israel. These were a people who did not know God, but were taught to worship God by the precepts of man. II Kings 17:41 describes the result of this policy; “So these nations feared the LORD, and served their graven images, both their children, and their children’s children: as did their fathers, so do they unto this day.” Isaiah 29:13 said their “fear of God was taught by the precepts of men.” That is very much the condition in many places today. People worship and serve God according to the precepts of men. They don’t know God, but they go through the motions, as taught by man.

God used Assyria to separate the northern kingdom from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. God was watching over Judah. He spoke of Judah through Isaiah, saying, “As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not; for a blessing is in it: so will I do for my servants’ sakes, that I may not destroy them all. And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains…” (Isaiah 65:8-9).  Judah was the “cluster” out of which the promised seed, Jesus Christ, would come. God would protect the “cluster” and would not “destroy them all” for the sake of the “seed.” He continued “working all things according to the counsel of His own will,” to bring forth His purpose. After fulfilling the purpose God had raised him up for, the king of Assyria went beyond his purpose and came down against Jerusalem during the reign of the righteous king Hezekiah. It was there that God turned him back and sent him home to be slain by one of his own household, and Assyria, that mighty kingdom that God had raised up to punish ungodly nations soon fell. Did God raise Assyria up only to destroy them?  No!  It was to Assyria that God sent Jonah. Nineveh was the capitol city of Assyria. God told Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach, “Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” Jonah preached, and Nineveh repented. God had compassion upon the people of Nineveh. He said, “Should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand” (Jonah 4:11). God did not purpose their destruction; he purposed their salvation, but when king Sennacherib hardened his heart, they were overthrown.

In time, Jerusalem and the tribe of Judah were turned away to idols by several of their kings, and God raised up Babylon. We all know that Babylon was the nation under king Nebuchadnezzar that destroyed Jerusalem and the temple. Perhaps we do not know that it was God who called Nebuchadnezzar against Judah. Why? Was it to destroy Jerusalem? No!  It was not the purpose of God that Jerusalem should be destroyed. The prophet Jeremiah instructed the people of Jerusalem to go with Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon where they would dwell for seventy years, and Jerusalem would be spared, but if they rebelled against God, Jerusalem would be destroyed. God raised Nebuchadnezzar to power in Babylon to preserve a righteous seed before it perished in the wickedness of its own land. In the twenty-fourth chapter of Jeremiah, the prophet saw two baskets of figs in a vision. One basket of figs was very “evil,” so spoiled and rotten they could not be eaten, but the other was very good. The figs that could not be eaten represented the ungodly and the idolaters in the land that were to be given to the sword, but God said the “good figs” were the righteous, who would go into captivity under Nebuchadnezzar for their good. It was the righteous people who “believed” the word of Jeremiah and willingly went to Babylon where they were spared. The ungodly rebelled and fought against the armies of Babylon until they were scattered and Jerusalem was destroyed.

God “worketh all things according to the counsel of His own will.” If Israel serves Him they are blessed; if Israel turns away from Him, God preserves a remnant. Isaiah said, “Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha” (Romans 9:29). There was only a “remnant” in Jerusalem that had served God. These were those who were taken out by Nebuchadnezzar for their own good. If they continued faithful to God, He would keep them in Babylon, and they would not be compromised. Nebuchadnezzar discovered the power of Israel’s God when he cast the three Hebrew children into the fiery furnace. He gave a decree against anyone that would speak a word against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, or Abednego, because, as Nebuchadnezzar said, “there is no other God that can deliver after this sort” (Daniel 3:29).  King Darius of the Medes honored the God of Israel, yet wicked men deceived him into giving the decree that resulted in Daniel being cast into the lion’s den. When the king failed to save Daniel, he visited with him just before he was cast to the lions. He said, “Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee” (Daniel 6:16). Then, the king went home and fasted and prayed all night for Daniel’s safety. He returned very early in the morning to the lion’s den, and cried aloud to Daniel, “Is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?”  Daniel answered, “O king, live for ever. My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me” (Daniel 6:20-22).

Belshazzar, the son (or grandson, which some believe) of Nebuchadnezzar became king of Babylon. He was a very ungodly man, and even though he knew of God’s powerful dealings to humble Nebuchadnezzar, he hardened his heart against God. He gave a feast for a thousand “lords” of the kingdom, which became a drunken party. He called for the “holy vessels” that were taken from the temple in Jerusalem to be brought to him. He and all his guests were drinking from the holy vessels in a drunken stupor, when a hand appeared and began to write on the wall, “MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.” Belshazzar was so fearful at the sight that his loins were loosed, and his legs smote one against the other. He called for the wise men of Babylon, but there were none that could interpret the writing. They called for Daniel, and he read the message to the Belshazzar; MENE; “God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.” TEKEL; “Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.” PERES; “Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians” (Daniel 5:25-28). That very night the armies of the Medes and Persians succeeded in diverting the waters of the Euphrates River, and came under the wall through the riverbed into the city of Babylon. Belshazzar was slain that same night, as the army of Cyrus the Persian overthrew the government of Babylon. The prophet Isaiah had prophesied of Cyrus some two hundred years before this night, even calling him by name, and foretelling the events of that very night. “Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut… For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me. I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me” (Isaiah 45:1, 4-5).

God used Cyrus to bring the kingdom of the Medes and Persians to power. Was it to persecute the Jews?  No!  It was Cyrus and the kings of Persia who released the Jews to return to their own land. They even gave them the finances to rebuild the city, and the authority to re-establish their government. This was the purpose for which God raised them up, and they fulfilled it, just as Egypt had preserved them before Pharaoh hardened his heart, and as Babylon had preserved the righteous remnant. Consider some of the “captives” that Nebuchadnezzar took out of Jerusalem. Among them were Daniel, who became great in the government of Nebuchadnezzar; Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who became governors over provinces in Babylon; Mordecai, who was exalted to the right hand of the king; and Esther, who became queen and saved the Jews from a wicked decree. God was in control, and using all these world empires to fulfill His purpose concerning Israel. Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, and the Medes and Persians, were all used of God to sustain the righteous seed, and never to destroy it. Whenever any of these kingdoms hardened their heart against the purpose of God concerning Israel, they were either overthrown or destroyed. In time, the Persian Empire was conquered by Alexander the Great of Greece, which was later succeeded by the Roman Empire.

God spoke His law to Israel at Horeb, but they would not listen. Moses added his law, which was enforced by the penalty of death, to keep the nation until Christ would come; yet they turned away repeatedly. Rather than destroy His nation, God gave them up to their enemies, to keep them until Christ would come. If the Law of Moses could not keep them, Babylon could. If the Law of Moses could not hold them back from their idols, these other kingdoms could. All these kingdoms were raised up for God’s purpose for a season, but each of them came to their end. Their ruins remain unto this day as a testimony that God “worketh all things after the counsel of His own will.”  

A “Remnant”

In 1982 I stood upon the Mount of Olives overlooking Jerusalem. I had been asked to speak to our tour group on the same place they believe Jesus stood as he wept over Jerusalem. I took this text in Luke 19:41-44 where Jesus wept over Jerusalem:

And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.”

Luke 19:41-44

I said to the people, “Everything we have seen in these several days in Israel is the ruins of a nation that rejected its Messiah and crucified the Son of God.” Was the nation of Israel God’s end and purpose? He chose them to be His nation; He set His love upon them; He gave His oracles and His promises to them, but were they the “end” that God purposed in Himself?  No!  And neither was Judah!  The world empires were raised up to keep that little tribe of Judah until a young virgin girl would conceive by the Holy Ghost, and bring forth Jesus Christ. Neither the nation of Israel, the tribe of Judah, the house of David, nor the Virgin Mary, were God’s “purpose” or “end,” but they were each chosen by God to bring forth His “end;” the birth of Jesus Christ the Son of God into this world. God “works all things according to the counsel of His own will.”

Today, most people think the “church” is what God predestined from the beginning. They think that if you believe Jesus is the Son of God, then you have heaven guaranteed. But, the church is not God’s “end.” The “church” is but the “remnant” of the nation of Israel that refused to believe. The hundred and twenty that believed Jesus and received the Holy Ghost on the Day of Pentecost were a very small “remnant” of Israel. They were all Jews who believed upon Jesus, and as such they were the righteous seed of Israel, the smallest remnant ever. The rest were “broken off in unbelief” (Romans 11:20).  Jesus had told the Jewish leaders of His day, “…for if ye believe not that I am he (messiah), ye shall die in your sins” (John 8:24).  They did not believe, and they died in their sins.

The remnant of Israel who believed (the hundred and twenty) preached the gospel in Jerusalem, and there were thousands who were added to their number, called “the church (called out ones).” The Jews immediately rose up to fight against and destroy the church. They were fighting against their own righteous brothers who “believed God.” The “infant church” was the remnant of the nation God had chosen; they became the “Israel of God”  (Galatians 6:16). They first carried the gospel to the Jews, who rejected it just as they had rejected Jesus before them, so they turned to preach the gospel to the gentiles, and they received it. Later in the first century, the church, led by Jewish Apostles, prophets and teachers, but with a gentile congregation, was still the “remnant of Israel,” and continued as the “Israel of God.” Even so, it was not the “end” that God had purposed. Today a vast majority of “the church” has departed from the truth and turned away from the Lord, yet there will be a remnant that will believe God. They will preach the truth of the gospel. They will preach the cross of Christ for justification, the blood of Christ for sanctification, and the baptism with the Holy Ghost for glorification. They will be preserved in the midst of great persecution against them, even while vessels of dishonor will be cast away. 

“Vessels of Honor”

Over fifty years ago this writer was saved and baptized with the Holy Ghost. Over forty-five years ago he was called to preach the gospel. That calling was not to exalt the writer above men, but to humble him to serve God. I remember the day that God spoke to me in the first year of my ministry while trying to reach a sinner by being a “regular guy.” God spoke to me in reproof, “If you want to, you can be a regular guy; but if you want to, you can be a man of God.” I instantly changed courses, and the man who had been unreachable minutes before was instantly convicted, broken, and willing to be saved. I have realized from that day that it is ultimately my choice, as one called of God, if I will be a vessel of honor or a vessel of dishonor. In John 15:16, Jesus told His disciples, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.” It is easy to misconstrue what Jesus said. Before that night was over, one of them had denied Jesus before men three times, and all of them had forsaken Him. One that He had chosen, who was not present at the time of this saying, betrayed Jesus to be crucified, and became a castaway. As necessary as it is that He has chosen us, it is just as necessary that we in return choose Him, to do His will. Jesus was not committed to any that He had chosen until they also chose Him. I am saved, and filled with the Holy Ghost, but I must also choose to do His will, lest I also would be a castaway.

God has never predestined any to be either a vessel of honor or a vessel of dishonor. It is really our choice as a child of God. God told Israel in Isaiah 1:18-20, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.”

Looking back to the text in Luke 19:41-44, Jesus wept over Jerusalem because they “did not know the things that were prepared for them,” He said “in this, thy day.” He also wept because they “did not know the hour of their visitation.” Now, it was too late for Jerusalem. Nothing remained but for the enemy to compass them and destroy them, and they never knew what God had prepared for them in His Son Jesus Christ. That was their day, but this is our day. Do we know the things God has prepared for us?  Do we recognize that we are in the hour of our visitation?  Do we believe that we, as children of God, can continue to pursue only our ambitions and pleasures when we are “predestined according to Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will?”  In view of these things, we can understand what Paul said in Romans 8:28: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” The key to understanding is in the words “ according to His purpose.”  Has God called you?  Pursue that for which He called you. Seek for the presence and anointing of God to fulfill that calling, and go do it. You will see God work miracles, moving obstacles, and clearing the way for His purpose to be fulfilled in you. You will be a “vessel unto honor, sanctified, meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.”

Conclusion

Church, we have spent too many years seeking after things that God is destroying. If we would go to the ruins Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medes and Persians, Greece, and Rome, we would see the remains of those great empires that God used for only a season. A thousand years from now people will look upon great heaps of glass, rusted steel girders, and broken rubble, where the once great cities of America were, and wonder, “What was that which they called ‘the American Dream?’ What was it like?”  America was raised up for the purpose of God, to bless and sustain the righteous men who came to these shores seeking a place to freely worship God. America became the greatest nation the world has ever seen, until the day she began to reject the God of the bible and His Son, Jesus Christ. Today, we are seeing the fall of our beloved America. She will be no different than Egypt, where thousands of years later, we are still wondering what the pyramids were really for. America has long since been given up to “uncleanness (Romans 1:24),” and to “vile affections (Romans 1:26);” we are now seeing America “given over” to a reprobate mind” (Romans 1:28).  We are seeing the end of this great empire. Did God raise America up to destroy it? No!  God raised America up to glorify Him, that His people would be free to worship and serve Him, but that is no longer the case. Is God thwarted in His purpose if America falls?  Is it all over if America should disappear from among the nations?  Is any purpose of God denied if America falls?  No!  God will yet have a people in the image and likeness of His Son. If western culture is obliterated, God will yet have a people in the image and likeness of His Son. Every kingdom of this world will be cast down, so why would we seek our inheritance in that which God will destroy?  Hebrews 12:28-29 says, “Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire.” We may be only a “remnant” of a “remnant.” We may be the “little flock” Jesus spoke of, but He said, “It is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32). It is the everlasting Kingdom of God.

Message 24 - By Leroy Surface - According to His Purpose

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