When a person says, "I will," it may not mean much.
We very often say, "I will," when we don't mean to do what we say.
But when we come to the "I will" of Christ, He will do what He says He will do.
Everything He promises to do, He is able and willing to accomplish.
There is the "I will" of salvation
This "I will" is found in John 6:37:
"Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out."
I imagine someone will say, "If I were what I ought to be, I would come.
But when I remember my sinful past, it is too bad. I am not fit to come."
Remember that Jesus Christ came just to save all who will come unto Him.
That means good people who need a Saviour, and sinners like you and me
who have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
This "I will" goes right into the heart:
"Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out."
That includes everyone.
It doesn't matter who the person is, and it doesn't matter his sins or trials, troubles are,
if that person will come to the Lord Jesus, He will not cast him out.
Come then, poor sinner; come just as you are and take Him at His word.
Jesus came to save sinners, and He will save all who will come to Him.
He will save those who are so full of sin that they are despised by all who know them.
He will even save who have been rejected by their fathers and mothers.
He will save those who have sunk so low that no one has any pity for them.
Jesus came to save all who will come to Him.
That is why He left Heaven and came into the world.
That is why He left the throne of God -- to save sinners.
"The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." (Luke 19:10)
He did not come to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
D. L. Moody tells about a wild prodigal young man ruining his life
and causing all who loved him intense agony.
Moody said the the Spirit of God touched his heart.
While Moody was talking with him, Moody quoted Luke 19:10:
"For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."
Then Moody asked him, "Do you believe Jesus said that?"
"I suppose He did," the man answered.
Moody then asked, "You suppose He did? Do you believe it?"
The man answered, "I hope so."
Moody ten said: "You hope so?
Do you believe it?
You do your work, and the Lord will do His.
Just come as you are.
Throw yourself upon Jesus, and He will not cast you out."
This man thought it was too simple and easy.
At last, it seemed to get in to him, and he seemed to find comfort from it.
It was past midnight and he got down on his knees, and trusted Jesus, and Jesus saved him
After that Moody said to the young man, "Now, don't think you are going to get out
of the Devil's territory without trouble.
The Devil will come to you tomorrow morning and say it was all feeling,
that you only imagined you were accepted by God.
When he does, don't fight him with your own opinions,
but fight him with John 6:37: 'Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.'
Let that be the 'sword of the Spirit.'"
Moody goes on to say that the struggle came sooner than he thought with this young man.
Moody said that while this young man was on his way home, the Devil got to him.
He used John 6:37, but the Devil put this thought into his mind:
"How do you know Christ ever said that after all?
Perhaps the translators made a mistake."
This troubled him for about two hours, and the he came to this conclusion:
"I will believe it anyway; and when I get to Heaven, if it isn't true,
I will just tell the Lord I did not make the mistake – the translators did."
When kings and princes of this world issue invitations, they call the rich, the mighty,
the powerful, the honorable and the wise; but when the the Lord was on earth,
He called on the the vilest of the vile.
That was the principal fault the people found with Him.
Those self-righteous Pharisees were not going to associate with harlots and publicans.
The principal charge against Christ was:
"This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them."
That is the way it is with God.
He picks up some poor lost soul, and makes him an instrument to turn hundreds
and thousands to Christ.
George Whitefield, standing in his tabernacle in London and with a multitude
gathered about him, cried out, "The Lord Jesus will save the Devil's castaways!"
Two poor, abandoned wretches standing outside in the street heard Whitefield.
Looking into each other's faces, they said, "That must mean you and me."
They wept and rejoiced.
They went closer and looked in and saw Whitefield with tears streaming from his eyes
as he pleated with the people to give their hearts to God.
One of them wrote him a little note and sent it to him.
Later that day, as he sat at the table of Lady Huntington, his special friend,
someone present said, "Mr. Whitefield, did you not go a little too far today
when you said that the Lord would save the Devil's castaways?"
Taking the note from his pocket, he gave it to Lady Huntington. "Will you read that note aloud?"
She read: "Mr. Whitefield: Two poor lost women stood outside your tabernacle today
and heard you say that the Lord would save the Devil's castaways.
We seized upon that as our last hope.
Now we write to tell you that we rejoice now in believing in Him,
and from this good hour we shall endeavor to serve Him who has done so much for us."
Another "I Will" of Jesus is that of cleansing
This "I will" is found in Luke 5.
There we read of a leper who came to Christ and said,
"Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean."
The Lord touched him, saying, "I will: be thou clean,"
and immediately the leprosy left him.
I can say to every man or woman full of the leprosy of sin that if you will go
to Jesus and tell about yourself, He will speak to you as He did to that poor leper
and He will say: "I will: be thou clean," and you will be cleansed
of the leprosy of your sins.
The Lord and the Lord alone can forgive sins.
If you say to Him, "Lord, I am full of sin; Thou canst make me clean."
Or if you say, "Lord, I have a terrible temper; Thou canst make me clean"
Or if you say, "Lord, I have a deceitful heart. Cleanse me, O Lord;
give me a new heart. O Lord, give me the power to overcome the flesh
and the snares of the Devil!"
Or if you say, "Lord, I am full of unclean habits."
I assure you if you come to to the Lord Jesus with these or other needs
with a sincere spirit, He will say to you, "I will: be thou clean."
And it will be done.
The God who created the world out of nothing, whose breath put life into the world
when He says, "Thou shalt be clean," you will be clean!
You can make a wonderful exchange today.
You can have spiritual health in the place of sin sickness.
You can get rid of everything that is vile and hateful in the sight of God.
The Son of God comes to you and says, "I will take away your leprosy
and give you health in its place.
I will take away that terrible sin disease that is ruining your body and soul
and I will give you My righteousness in its place.
I will clothe you with the garments of salvation."
It is so wonderful!
That's what He means when He says, "I will."
Another wonderful "I Will" is that of confession.
In Matthew 10:32 Jesus promises:
"Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also
before my Father which is in heaven."
This is "I will" of confession.
That's the next thing that takes place after a person is saved.
When we have been washed in the blood of the Lamb, we get our mouths opened.
We have to confess Christ here in this sinful world and tell His love to others.
We must not ever be ashamed of the Son of God.
A man thinks it a great honor when he has achieved a victory that causes his name
to be mentioned by the President of leader of his nation.
In ancient China the highest ambition of the successful soldier was to have his name
written in the palace or temple of Confucius.
But just think of having your name mentioned in the kingdom of Heaven by the Prince of Glory,
by the Son of God, because you confessed Him here on earth!
Confess Him here, and He will confess you before His Father in heaven
Every Christian must always be ready his or her stand for Christ.
It is shameful that many Christians are ashamed to confess the Son of God.
We are live in times when people want a religion without the cross.
The want the the crown but not the cross.
But we have been commanded by our Saviour to take up our crosses daily
– not once a year and not just on the Lord's Day, but daily.
And if we take up our crosses and follow Him, we shall be wonderfully blessed.
No man can be a disciple of Jesus Christ without bearing his cross.
There are so few who will their stand for Christ in their every day lives.
Jesus said, "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men,
him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
"But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father
which is in heaven." (Matthew 10:32,33)
The next is the "I will" of Jesus is that of service.
There are a good many Christians who have been led by God's Holy Spirit
"I want to do serve Jesus Christ in some way."
And Christ says, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."
There is not one Christian who cannot be used to bring someone to Jesus.
Jesus says, "And I, if I be lifted up…, will draw all men unto me";
and our service is just to lift up Christ.
Our Lord said, "Follow me, Peter, and I will make you a fisher of men";
and Peter simply obeyed.
On the day of Pentecost we see the result.
Peter probably ever caught as many fish in one day as he did men on that day.
It would have broken every net they had on board if they had had
to drag up three thousand fish.
I read of a man in older days who who was going to take a trip in a stagecoach.
He noticed that there were first, second, and third-class passengers.
But when he looked into the stagecoach, he saw all the passengers sitting together
without any distinction.
He could not understand it.
The soon after they left, they came to a steep hill.
The stagecoach stopped.
The driver called out, "First-class passengers keep their seats.
Second-class passengers get out and walk.
Third-class passengers get behind and push."
In the church we have no room for first class passengers – that is people who think
salvation means an easy ride all the way to Heaven.
We have no room for second-class passengers – people who are carried most of the time,
and who, when they should be showing their faith by their works,
go trudging on giving never a thought to helping their fellows along.
All church members ought to be third-class passengers – ready to get out and push.
John Wesley's definition of a church was : "All at it and always at it."
Every Christian is to be a worker.
He need not be a preacher or an evangelist to be useful.
He may be useful in business.
See what power an employer has with his employees!
Often a man can be as useful in a business sphere as in another.
There is one reason – and a great reason – why so many do not succeed at Christian service.
I have been asked by a great many good pastors and dedicated Christians,
"Why is it we don't have any results?
We work hard, pray hard, preach hard, yet the success does not come."
Moody tells them, "Because you spend all your time mending nets.
No wonder you never catch anything."
We must give invitations and compel sinners to come and thus pull the net in
and see if you have caught anything.
If you are always mending and setting the net, you won't catch many fish.
Who ever heard of a man's going out to fish and setting his net on th ground,
and then let it stay there and never putting it in the water?
Everybody would laugh at such a man.
Once a minister in England came to Moody and said,
"I wish you would tell me why we ministers don't succeed better than we do."
I brought before him this idea of pulling in the net: "You have to pull in your nets.
There are many ministers in Manchester who can preach much better than I can,
but I pull in the net."
Many people have objections to giving invitations, but it is of upmost importance
to provide people the opportunity to respond publicly to God's invitation.
The minister said, "I never did pull in my net; but I will try next Sunday."
He did so, and eight precious souls came forward receiving Jesus
as their Lord and Saviour.
The next Sunday he came down and told Moody that he had never experienced
such a Sunday in his life.
He and all who were there were marvelously blessed.
The next time he drew the net, there were forty.
And when he came to see Moody, he said, "Moody, I have witnessed eight hundred
conversions this last year!
It was such a great mistake that I did not begin earlier to pull in the net."
Christians, if you want to catch people for Christ, just present the Gospel and pull in the net.
If you only catch one, it will be something.
It may be a little child, but I have known a little child to convert a whole family.
You don't know if that little boy may become a Billy Graham
who will reach many people for the Lord.
God uses the weak things of this world to confound the mighty.
God's promise is guaranteed.
Jesus has promised, "If you follow Me, I will make you fishers of men."
Christian claim that promise and and follow Him now.
If a preacher faithfully preaches the Gospel, he should ought to expect results.
It is the privilege of God's children to reap the fruit of their labor
three hundred sixty-five days in the year.
Someone asked Moody, "Isn't there a sowing time as well as a harvest?"
Moody responded, "Yes, there is; but then, you can sow with one hand
and reap with the other.
What would you think of a farmer who went on sowing all the year round
and never thought of reaping?
I repeat: we want to sow with one hand and reap with the other.
And if we look for the fruit of our labors, we shall see it.
"I, if I be lifted up…, will draw all men unto me."
We must lift Christ up, and then seek people out and bring them to Him.
You must use the right kind of bait.
A good many don't do this, then they wonder why they are not successful.
You see them getting up all kinds of entertainment with which to try to catch men.
They go the wrong way to work.
This perishing world needs Christ and Him crucified.
There's a void in every person's soul that needs to be filled,
and if we only approach them with the right kind of bait, we shall catch catch them for Jesus.
This sinful world needs a Saviour; and if we are going to be successful in catching men,
we must preach Christ crucified – not His life only, but His death.
And if we are only faithful in doing this, we shall succeed.
Why?
Because He has promised: 'If you follow Me, I will make you fishers of men.'
That promise holds just as good to you and me as it did to His disciples,
and is as true now as it was in their time.
The fifth "I Will" is that of comfort
This "I will" is found in John 14:18: "I will not leave you comfortless."
It is so special to know thought that Christ has not left us alone i
n this dark wilderness world.
Although He has ascended up on high and taken His seat by the Father's throne,
He has not left us comfortless.
He promised, "I will not leave you orphans."
He did not leave Joseph. When they cast him into prison, "God was with him."
When Daniel was cast into the den of lions, the Almighty God was with him.
If we have Christ with us, we can do all things.
Let us not be thinking how weak we are.
Let us lift up our eyes to Him and think of Him as our Lord who has
all power given to Him in Heaven and on earth.
He says, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world."
Some of our loved ones and friends will leave , and that is sad.
The Christian and Christ shall never be separated!
He is with us here, and we shall be with Him in person by and by.
We shall see Him in His beauty.
But not only is He with us, but He has sent us His Holy Spirit.
We must acknowledge that He is here in our midst.
He has power to give sight to the blind, liberty to the captive, and to open
the ears of the deaf that they may hear the glorious words of the Gospel.
Then the sixth "I Will" is that of resurrection
Then there is another "I will" in John 6:40 and it occurs four times in the chapter:
"I will raise him up at the last day."
I rejoice to know that I have a Saviour who has power over death.
My blessed Redeemer holds the keys of death and Hell.
I pity the unbeliever and infidel who has no hope in the resurrection.
But every child of God can open that chapter and read the promise,
and his heart will leap for joy.
We know what Christ can do.
While He was on earth, He showed us His power to raised people from the dead.
He raised three from the dead, that we might know what power He had.
He raised Jairus' daughter.
He raised the widow's son.
And He raised Lazarus of Bethany.
He raised all three so every doubt might be swept away from our hearts.
This world would be so dark and gloomy if we had no hope in the resurrection.
But when we Christians lay our little children down in the grave, it is not without hope.
We have seen people in the terrible struggle with death;
but there has been a bright star to illumine the darkness and gloom,
and that the happy circle has been broken on earth it shall be joined again
in heaven..
You who have lost a loved one, rejoice as you read this "I will"!
Those who have died in Christ are already with Jesus.
God's Word declares that to "be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord".
The "I will" promises of Jesus are so amazing.
Moody tells of his brother who was lost without Jesus.
He tells how concerned he was for his brother to become a Christian.
I had an unsaved brother for whom I was very anxious.
For fourteen years he tried to lead his brother to "the Lamb of God,
which taketh away the sin of the world."
Moody wrote that his brother was the Benjamin of the family.
He was born a few weeks after their father's death.
When he was seventeen, he had a long bout with typhoid fever,
and he never fully recovered from it.
Moody related that he did everything he could to bring him to Jesus.
He described his brother as a young man of considerable promise.
He told how his brother would discuss the divinity of Christ so astutely,
and Moody said that he was no match with his brother in an argument.
Moody continued daily to witness to him about Jesus.
In Moody's own words he says, "I think I never loved a man on earth as I loved that brother.
(I never knew what it was to love a father, because he died before I remember.)
Because he was sickly, that drew my love and sympathy toward him;
and oh, how my heart yearned for his salvation!
After preaching one night, I said, ' Now if any of this audience would
like to take up his cross and follow Christ, I would like him to rise.'
I cannot tell you what a thrill of joy filled my soul when that brother of mine arose!
It seemed the happiest night of my life.
I was full of joy and thankfulness.
Afterwards my brother and I worked together for a time.
We talked of the Gospel.
And in the summer we sat upon the hillside and talked of the old home.
After a year had passed, I went to Chicago.
He was to go with me. He bid me good-bye, and I said,
"Samuel, I will see you in a few days, so I will only say good-bye till then."
A few days after, a telegram came, saying, "Samuel is dead."
I traveled a thousand miles to bury him.
I got more comfort out of that promise, "I will raise him up at the last day,"
than anything else in the Bible.
How it cheered me! How it lighted up my path!
As I went into the room and looked upon the lovely face of that brother,
how that passage ran through my soul: "Thy brother shall rise again."
Thank God for that promise! It is worth more than the world to me.
When we laid him in the grave, it seemed as if I could hear the voice
of Jesus Christ saying, Thy brother shall rise again.' "
The seventh "I Will" is one of glory.
This "I will" is in found in John 17:24:
"Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am."
This was the last prayer of Jesus in the guest chamber on the last night
before He was crucified on Calvary.
As Christians we rejoice with the promise of Jesus that we shall see the King
in His beauty by and by.
Christians, we have a glorious day waiting for us.
Some think that on the first day we are converted we have everything.
And we do receive salvation for the past and peace for the present;
but there is the glory for the future in store.
That's what kept Paul rejoicing as he said, "These light afflictions, these few stripes,
these few brickbats and stones that they throw at me – why, the glory that is beyond
excels them so much that I count them as nothing, nothing at all, so that I may win Christ."
And so, when things go against us, cheer up!
Remember that the night will soon pass away, and that heavenly morning will dawn upon us.
Death never comes there.
It is banished from that heavenly land.
Sickness, pain and sorrow come not there to mar that grand and glorious home
where we shall be with our Saviour forever.
All of the family of God will be there.
Glorious future!
Glorious day!
And that day may be much closer than many of us think.
During these few days we are here, let us stand steadfast and firm as witnesses for Jesus.
For soon and very soon, we are going to see the King!
"Soon and very soon
We are going to see the King.
Soon and very soon
We are going to see the King
Hallelujah, hallelujah,
We're going to see the king
No more crying there,
We are going to see the King
No more crying there,
We are going to see the King
Hallelujah, hallelujah,
We're going to see the King
Should there be any rivers we must cross
Should there be any mountains we must climb
God will supply all the strength that we need
Give us strength till we reach the other side.
We have come from every nation,
God has already signed our name.
Jesus took his blood and he washed my sins.. he washed them all away.
Yet there are those of us who have laid down our lives but we all shall meet again
on the other side... soon and very soon.
Soon and very soon
We are going to see the King
Hallelujah, hallelujah,
We're going to see the King.
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
We're going to see the King!"
-- Andrae Crouch
Sermon adapted from D. L. Moody's sermon on "The "7 I Wills of Jesus"
and several other sources by Dr. Harold L. White
