Purposive Will Series

Theme: Purposive Will  

Text:  Isaiah 46:1-13

Greetings: The Lord is good, and his love endures forever.

Joke:

A young man asked his pastor to pray for the will of God. .

The Pastor, laid his hands on his head and said, “By the will of God, you will walk today!”

The boy smiled at Pastor, and told him I am not paralysed. I am alright. “There’s nothing wrong in this prayer.”

After the Service, the boy stepped outside the church and found his motorbike was missing”. He had to walk. (Adopted).

Introduction:

“I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. “; (NIV Isaiah 46:10). ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure,’(KJ21); “My plan will stand; all that I decide I will do,” (CEB); my plan will hold, I will do everything I please to do. (CJB); ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ (ESV); I said that my plans would never fail, that I would do everything I intended to do. (GNT); All I say will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish. (TLB);

Text from the Message Translation: “Think about this. Wrap your minds around it. This is serious business, rebels. Take it to heart. Remember your history, your long and rich history. I am God, the only God you’ve had or ever will have— incomparable, irreplaceable— From the very beginning telling you what the ending will be, all along letting you in on what is going to happen, assuring you, ‘I’m in this for the long haul, I’ll do exactly what I set out to do,’ Calling that eagle, Cyrus, out of the east, from a far country the man I chose to help me. I’ve said it, and I’ll most certainly do it. I’ve planned it, so it’s as good as done. (Isaiah 46:10).

Today, I would like to share with you three things for you to carry home: firstly, Remember that Yahweh is the only God, secondly, know that He has a Purposive Will for all of us, and thirdly, fulfill as His chosen man-His purposive will.

1. Remember Me (v.8).

In Isaiah 46:1-13, we get a short contrast between God the true and the living eternal God that created the heavens and the earth, and the false gods that these people were worshipping.  

Remember that I am your God. I have created you. I know you from your birth, I know your ways, I know your thoughts, I know who you are. I know your future. I have upheld you; I have carried you. I will carry you to the grey times and till the end. I will sustain you, and rescue you. I am bringing my salvation and my righteousness. (Isaiah 46:3-4,13).

The people of Yahweh are carried by Yahweh. The God who made them cares for them, and will continue to care for them to the very end. Here is the doctrine of God’s foreknowledge, not the doctrine of his sovereignty. He foreknows the end and He foreknows the things not yet done.

Remember that the Babylonian gods (Bel and Nebo) can’t save the people rather people have to save gods. The idols become a hindrance and a burden causing the donkeys and oxen to carry the extra weight (Isaiah 46:1-2). Whereas Yahweh carried the people. Gods of silver and gold cost their worshippers much in money, time, and effort, but they can’t do anything to save their worshippers from trouble (Isaiah 46:5-7).

Raise the question within yourself. Does God work with your partnership or do you work and seek the partnership of God? Remember this, and stand firm, and it is addressed to certain Jews who were wavering between idolatry and the worship of God

Remember means: (1) they should recall the many wonders God has already performed on their behalf; (2) they should especially remember his power and ability to prophecy events before they occur; and (3) they should dwell upon the fact that God has promised to deliver them from captivity.

2. You Know My Purposive Will (v.10).

My purpose, my design (Isaiah 14:24), my will. The purpose of God means God’s foreknowledge of everything that is to come to pass, together with the operation of His influence upon that foreknowledge, in connection with those things. His foreknowledge had no beginning. His resolution could have no beginning. From the moment He foresaw, He resolved or purposed. Such appears to be the meaning of the word purpose as applied to God.

The phrase ‘shall stand’ means that it shall be stable, settled, fixed, and established. God has a purpose or plan in regard to human affairs. That God’s plan will not be frustrated. He has power enough to secure the execution of his designs, and he will exert that power in order that all his plans may be accomplished.