 Instead of asking, do we have free will, maybe the better question is, does God have free will? The base that you'll see online or in churches or different theological circles is, do we have free will? Or, obviously we have will, we have volition, but is it free to what degree is it? Well, maybe the better question is, does God have free will? Remember, above all else, God is sovereign. You'll hear me say this over and over again. The only thing, the only one that we know that ever existed that is sovereign is God. Not us, not nations, there's nothing that's sovereign. Meaning this, that he can do what he wants, when he wants, to whomever he wants, just because he wants. Now, he may not give us all the details as to why he's doing what he's doing, but he's God. He doesn't need to. Remember, there was a conversation between God and Job where God wants to question Job about his opinion of God. In Job 38, he says, now who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now, gird yourself, gird up your loins like a man, and I will ask you and you will instruct me. God's point in this is that, are you going to give me counsel? Do I need to come consult with you? Do I even need to open up my books to let you see what I'm doing? Do I have to ask you for permission? Do you even know what's happening? Do you know how this works, how that works? Who causes the seas to go but so far? Who put the stars in the sky and keep them there? And so his point is, we are different. We're not on the same level, and I think that's important in thinking about what's happening on our earth and in our lives. Yes, maybe you believe that you have free will. That's not even an argument that I even really try to have, because if you have free will, then certainly God does too. And what do you do with your will, whatever you want to? What does God do with his free will, whatever he wants to? What do you accomplish with your free will? Not a lot. What does he accomplish with his free will? Everything that he desires. In Daniel 4.35 he says, All the inhabitants of the earth are counted as nothing. But he, that's God, does according to his will in the host of heavens and among the inhabitants of the earth. And no one can ward off his hands or say to him, what have you done? You can't question him, you can't ask him to change his mind. He is God. He is who he is, whether you exist or not. As a matter of fact, we exist for his good pleasure. Is there anyone that can resist his will? No, not a one. If he decides that he wants something to happen, if he decides that he wants to do something, there's nothing that we can do about it. Remember, he is the one that has determined when you'll live and when you'll die. He's determined even at what time, what era you'll live. He's even determined where you would live. Again, no one can resist his will as Paul says, you will say to me then, why does he still find fault for who resists his will? No one. If he wants to harden hearts, he can. If he wants to open up hearts, he can. As a matter of fact, he is the one in Ezekiel as well as other places, Deuteronomy, Jeremiah where he says that he will put his heart or his spirit in our hearts. He will take our hearts, take out this hardened stony heart and put in a fleshly heart. He would take his spirit and put it in our heart. He says, I will do these things and then I will in doing so cause you to walk in my teachings. Jesus tells us in John 1 that we are not born of our own will, not born of flesh, our own genealogy, not of our own desires, not of blood, but we are born of his will, of the spirit. Not ours. It's God that's in control. Obviously that's a good thing, but it kind of helps to keep in proper perspective who is actually doing things, who's actually in control. And if we go to Ephesians 1, controversial passage doesn't have to be, but he says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Not us. We have not blessed ourselves. We have not caused them to be blessed. He has done so. Look what he says. Just as he chose, he's the active party. We are the passive participants in salvation. He chose us in him. Notice he God chose us the direct object to be where in him, the indirect object. When did he do so before you were alive, before there was a world, before there was an earth, before the foundation of the world, that he, that we might be holy and blameless before him in love. He predestined us. He didn't choose us because he saw that we were going to choose him. That defeats the definition of the word predestined, but he predestined us to be adopted or to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ himself. According to, look what he says, here's why, according to the kind intentions of his will. Why did he do so? Because it pleased him according to his own counsel, his own good will. Well, I felt like it was arbitrary in what he's doing. You may feel that way. But again, as he would say to Joe, who are you? Do you counsel God? No, you do not. And so if you are the persuasion that we have free will to do whatever we want, you are right to some degree. We do have volition. We do have the ability to choose. We do. Again, what do we tend to do with that? Nothing good. Now, if he wants to insert his will, does he do so? Yes, he does. How often? Well, whenever he chooses and he does so to accomplish his purposes. His purpose is to have sons that have been conformed to the image of his son. When did he decide to do that before the earth was? Whose will was it? Ours or yours? It was his free will. If you get into the ring with your will, five feet, six feet tall, however tall you are, 100, 200, 300 pounds with all of your might, all of your force, all of your will in this corner. But in the next corner is God and his free will. Whose will is actually going to trumpet? And now the question is, does God ever influence us with his will? Sure, he does because he says so. He says, I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statute because absent him, you can't do anything good. And so thank God that God does have free will and thank God that he exercises it on those whom he love. Remember, he causes those things, all things, to work for the good of those to those who love him and that he has called according to his purpose. Thank God for that. There's nothing to fight about. There's nothing to be upset or bothered about. But be grateful that he has decided to sovereignly show his will in our lives. Amen.