Principles of Guidance

In November 1966, the Standard Bearer of Grand Rapids, Michigan, carried an article by Billy Graham in which he said, “Unfortunately, God has no power over the will of man. That is to say, He cannot save a person against His will, but at the same time, He is not willing that any should perish. He has made it possible for all men to be saved. But the Bible indicates that salvation depends upon man’s willingness to be saved. It would be a kind of tyranny if God saved people against their will….” Again Graham said, “Because of man’s free will, it is obvious by the very definition of things that man can deny the will of God and frustrate His benevolent plans….” This was reported by the Houston Post, December, 1974.

It is easy to see why free will religion is so appealing, because it appeals to the pride of human nature. Man will not, apart from grace, consent to be nothing, so that Jehovah God might be everything.

If God cannot do anything for man until man is willing to let Him, then such a concept makes Jehovah God less than man. According to Arminianism, this means God is cooperating with men. This is worse than man cooperating with God, because it makes man greater than God. No place in sacred Scripture can one find any Scripture that supports the Arminian. It did not take long for Paul to stop the mouth of his opposition. “JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED” (Rom. 9:13). “There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be!” (Rom. 9:14). “For who resists His will?” (Rom. 9:19). Free will is a Divine term. It means there is no law to restrain or power to overcome. Since God is His own law, there is no law above God to restrain Him. Once a person grants that the Creator is subordinated to the creature, he has joined forces with the vain, conceited philosophers of this world that lie in the lap of the devil (I John 5:19). The infinite God does not live for slime. It must be understood that the sovereign God neither creates nor lives for His creatures. Arminians teach that man must first ascend to God before God descends to him. Christ said, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him…” (John 6:44).

Spiritual truth is to the natural man’s mind what warm clothes are to a dead body. The sinner’s soul is said to be the shop of sin. Thus, his body and its members are the tools of sin, and his actions of mind and body are the trade of sin.

When one distinguishes between “can” and “may” of John 6:44 and 6:50, he has learned a lesson in interpretation. In John 6:44, the apostle said, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.” In John 6:50, he said, “This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.” No place in Scripture can one find any reference about the limitation of God’s will. God’s will of purpose is always accomplished without defeat. James said, “In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures” (James 1:18). The theory of immediate regeneration does not deny that the new life imparted in being born of God is brought to light by the word of God. The infant in the womb contributes nothing to either conception or forming in the womb.

The efficient cause of regeneration is God for the following reasons: 1. It is ascribed to the Father’s will (purpose or decree) (Mt. 11:25; Eph 1:4). 2. It is assigned to the merits of Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:24-26; Heb. 10:1-10, 14). 3. It is credited to the Holy Spirit (John 3:8; I Thess. 1:4-7).

Carnalizing and commercializing that which is sacred should cause great concern in assemblies today; but generally speaking, they are not manifesting any concern. Where would we go to find assemblies like those in Acts 2? Luke said, “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved” (Acts 2:42-47).

Studying the principles of guidance will lead the earnest and honest person to a quick conclusion. There is a reason that most “church members” spend so much time trying to find God’s will for their lives—too much of their “will” is for SELF.

Eliezer was a tried and true servant of Abraham. He suppressed his name in order to exalt Isaac. Subjection to proper authority is demonstrated by a commitment to God and His people. At first, Eliezer was fearful of not finding the bride. This proves that Eliezer was not the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit is not fearful of accomplishing Abraham’s purpose. Human frailty has to be recognized before one will desire to rectify—make things right that were wrong. The anticipated compromise must be set straight. Rejection of God’s authority—direct or delegated—must not only be recognized, but it is something that demands particular attention. Disobedient people sympathize with the disobedient.

The next principle of guidance is to recognize that true service is restricted to God’s revealed will. Moses said in Deuteronomy 29:29, “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.” God does not introduce a conditional covenant without first making Himself known in grace so that the conditional proposals may be attractive and acceptable. One must guard against a system of interpretation that would apply this exclusively to the assembly of Christ. Israel must not be confused with the assembly. Furthermore, we must not interfere with the Divine sphere of the covenants. Paul said, “…who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen” (Rom. 9:4, 5).

Another principle was the servant to whom was given spiritual discernment (Gen. 24:15-23). The servant was filled with a holy watchfulness of every indication of God’s will. Eliezer was that man. The servant did not stop the young woman on the way to the well, but waited until she had filled her pitcher. Then he made haste to her, knowing she was ready to listen. The servant was not going on his own, doing his own thing, in his own way. To be relevant the message must be relative to God’s message.

The servant must be in the way of the LORD in order to understand God’s all-inclusive plan. Therefore, he said, “…the LORD has guided me in the way to the house of my master’s brothers. Then the girl ran and told her mother’s household about these things” (Gen. 24:27, 28).

The gospel is not a mere offering, but it is a matter of the heart. Eliezer knew everything was dependent on the will of God. Therefore, he looked for some event in providence as the open door. Paul said, “But I will remain in Ephesus until Pentecost; for a wide door for effective service has opened to me, and there are many adversaries” (I Cor. 16:8, 9).

The trend today is to deprive preaching of its true character. It is the work of God. He uses human instruments today as He used them before, during, and subsequent to the first advent of Christ. The gospel should be generally proclaimed, but actually addressed. (Read I Cor. 16:9; II Cor. 1:12; Col. 2:1-3.)

Eliezer was a tried and true servant. He suppressed his name in order to exalt Isaac. John the Baptist said, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). How unlike so-called servants today who carnalize and spiritualize what is truly sacred. James said, “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you…” (James 4:7, 8).

___________________________________
The NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE—UPDATED EDITION is the source of all Scripture quotations in this message, unless otherwise noted.