03.02 I Will Draw All Men Unto Me

3 - God Will Have All Men Be Saved; Section 2 I WILL DRAW ALL MEN UNTO ME With what new and wonderful significance does the proclamation of Jesus Christ now echo through the corridors of our spirits as we hear the impelling words sound from His lips, "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, WILL DRAW A-L-L M-E-N UNTO ME" (John 12:32). This speaks not of Christ being lifted up in our daily living, or in praise, or by preaching, but upon the cross of Calvary, dying for the sins of the world. The verse following the one quoted above makes this very clear: "And this He said, signifying what death He should die." Again, "... as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up" (John 3:14).

Whenever there is introduced into any revelation this "I WILL" of God, then you immediately erase the will of man, the self-efforts of man to fulfill His will, and are brought face to face with the sovereignty of the GRACE of God. In the face of the sovereignty of God’s purpose all of man’s hostility toward or unbelief regarding what God says He will do is as nothing, for whenever God decrees "I WILL do it," all of man’s unbelief cannot deter the sovereign operation of HIS GRACE. Man has the tremendous powers of will. Man can say "I will," and he can say "I will not"; and when a man says "I will not," to God, he will go down as swift as an arrow to its mark, swift as a stone into the depths of the sea; he will sink to the deepest depths; he will be cast down to endure the judgment of fire and brimstone until his breaking comes. Learn this, O man, and you will know a great truth: man’s will is subject to God’s will! The will of God is always the higher will. In the will of God lies the origin of all creation - its very existence, its joys, its power, its glory. In the will of God lies the origin of redemption - the fact of it, its power, its glory. In the will of God alone lies the origin of the grace of God in the life of each of His children - its being, its power, its blessedness, its glory. The Lord Jesus Christ became man in order to do the will of God, and also to teach us what is God’s will, and how to do it. On one occasion we read, "And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped Him, saying, Lord, if You will, You can make me clean. And Jesus put forth His hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed" (Matthew 8:2-3). I desire to impress upon your mind and heart, dear reader, these words, the words of Jesus: "I will." The most important of all things is first to know God’s will, and secondly to do, the will of God. I would call your attention to the prayer of the leper. That is a prayer which neither you nor any Christian should ever offer. It is a wicked prayer for you to offer. It is a prayer that will be fruitless. The leper said, "Lord, if You will, You can make me clean." That leper was ignorant. In his case there was this excuse for him: that the Lord Jesus Christ was only unfolding His mission, and that He had not fully revealed God’s will. Ignorance of the Lord’s will was the one thing which stood in his way of getting the healing. He saw that Christ was able. He said, "You can make me clean." But he was in doubt as to whether Christ was willing. Therefore he said, "Lord, if You will." The Lord said, "I WILL," and the moment He said that, there was no more "If You will" in that man’s heart.

Let me illustrate. Supposing now that you and I are talking together on the telephone, and after some remarks you say to me, "Bro. Eby, may I see you this morning?" You know many precious folk want to come by and see us, about the same time sometimes, and sometimes would like to stay and visit for a few hours, or days, and sometimes they cannot do it, because I am a very busy man, and have an immense number of things to do. The work load is such that I must spend a full fifty to sixty hours in my office each week with correspondence, study, writing, and attending to many matters; then often travel out on weekends in ministry among various groups of the Lord’s people. Generally, when we have visitors, or when I go away for a few days of meetings, I must then work OVERTIME the same number of hours in order to keep up with those things the Lord has entrusted into my hands here. Many people do not understand this. But you have said to me: "May I see you this morning?" and I say: "Yes, if you will come to my house I will see you at eleven o’clock today." Well, now, suppose you come to my house at eleven o’clock. Suppose you ring the bell at the front door, and you say to my wife, "Bro. Eby told me that if I came he would see me at eleven o’clock." "All right," she says, pointing, "there is the office door; knock there." Suppose you come back down the walk near to my door, and you lie down on the walk-way, and begin to howl like this: "Oh! Bro. Eby, if you will, if you will, you can see me in your room. Oh! Bro. Eby! if you will." Well, I wonder who is making all that noise, and open another door into the house, and my wife comes, and I say, "Honey, who is out there making that noise?" "Oh, it is a person you told to come and see you this morning, and I told him to knock at your door." "And what did he say?" "The person said to me, ’Oh, it is so good of Bro. Eby to invite me to come. Oh, I wish he was willing. Oh, if I only knew he was willing.’ I said, Did Bro. Eby not tell you he was willing? ’Yes, and I wish I could believe it. Oh, Bro. Eby, if you will, if you will," and you keep on howling like that, and I say, "Honey, go tell the person I am willing to see him. Bring him right in." You come up closer and begin howling again, "Oh, Bro. Eby, if you will." "Honey, tell that person to come in at once." "He won’t come in, Dear." "Why?" "He says it is too good to be true; he won’t come in unless you go out." So I go out and say, "My dear friend, I told you to come to my house at eleven o’clock, and I am willing to see you." "Oh, Bro. Eby, I wish I could believe it were true. Oh, if you will, if you will."

Now, would that not be great nonsense? But that is the way people talk to God and about God. Jesus said to the leper, "I will - be clean." And straightway his leprosy was cleansed. In this case the leper said, "Lord, if You will." And Jesus answered, "I will." But in John 12:32 no man is inquiring concerning the will of God. The omnipotent and sovereign Lord and Redeemer of heaven and earth issues the wonderful and certain fiat: "I W-I-L-L DRAW A-L-L M-E-N UNTO ME!" When the Lord Jesus Christ says "I will," no man on earth has any right to even question whether or not He will. It is a wicked blasphemy to say that He will not do what He has said He will do. The WILL OF GOD is that all men be saved. And yet I hear many Christians, and some who profess to be walking in sonship, impiously saying, "I do not believe that God will save all men." To which I say, It doesn’t make any difference what YOU believe, your unbelief does not make the power of God of none effect.

Jesus says, "I, if I be lifted up from the earth, WILL DRAW ALL MEN UNTO ME!" "It does not mean that," they argue, "it means He will draw all of the elect, or He will draw all men who believe, or He will draw all kinds of men." "But how many does it say He will draw?" "All men." To which I answer, "If that proclamation is not true, if He is not strong enough, and purposeful enough, and loving enough to draw every spirit on earth and in hell, and throughout the universe, to Himself, then He has told a lie. If He can, but won’t, then He is a mean, hard, vindictive, sadistic tyrant. And if He can’t, then He’s not God" "Oh, Bro. Eby!" they cry, "that is heresy!" "But," I say, "that is Jesus. Was He a heretic?" "Oh, no; you do not understand, we can explain all that away, and you must not talk like that." But they explain and I still don’t understand! Has the first Adam more power than the second? ALL were made partakers of the sinful nature through the fall of one man (Romans 5:12; 1 Corinthians 15:21-22). Adam had power to take the whole human family down with him; even without their consent. If he being of the earth, earthy, could do this, how much more power will the second Adam show in lifting all again, through His death and resurrection! Jesus said, "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." He did not say He would draw them if they decided to come, or He would draw them, and they could come if they chose; but if He was lifted up (which He was), "I WILL DRAW ALL UNTO ME." It is not a partial drawing, an action to be yielded to or resisted according to the whims of the subject. It is a complete action, the subjects are drawn irresistibly and totally. If the drawn ones merely "sensed" His drawing but could resist, Jesus would have said, "I will cause all men to sense my drawing power." But the wonderful words "unto Me" denote the object and the end of the drawing. He says not, "I will draw all toward Me," but "unto Me." A total, completed action. "I will draw all men UNTO ME" all the way! Hallelujah! It should be clear to every thinking mind that the last Adam has more power than the first; that the Almighty cannot fail; that He has a plan by which He will cause ALL to come at the appointed time, praise His wonderful name! Are you agitated over the wayward condition of sons and daughters, or of other loved ones? THEN REST IN GOD’S PROVISION, FOR HE HAS APPOINTED A TIME WHEN THEY, TOO, SHALL COME TO CHRIST. And if they are not responding to the many attempts to convert them, then it is because GOD IS NOT CALLING THEM YET. But never fear, in due time He will merely point His finger at them and all of heaven’s hosts will converge upon them to bring them to their promised and purchased salvation. Paul Mueller relates the following story which so beautifully documents Christ’s power and ability to draw all men unto Himself: "Some years ago, during our missionary tour in Nigeria, West Africa, we were told a fascinating story of a people who lived on an island off the coast of Africa. These island people were in a remote area and somewhat isolated from the mainland, but God sought to bring a significant number of people on this island to salvation. There were no missionaries or other Christians on the island, so the Lord gave a dream to the chief of the tribe. In the dream, the chief was told to erect a cross and call the entire tribe to present themselves before that cross. As the people came bowing before the cross the chief had erected in obedience to the dream, they came without understanding of the significance of the cross. But they came nevertheless, for it was the command of the chief. However, as they came and bowed before that cross, they wept in repentance and their lives were changed by the power of God. Later, a missionary came to the island. He found the people serving God as best they knew, and he explained more fully to them the ways of the Lord" - end quote.

Beloved, when God wants to bring a people unto Himself, He is well able to do so, even to reach out to them without the use of human vessels, if need be. The Christ has been lifted up from the earth and now HAS ALL POWER IN HEAVEN AND IN EARTH. In due time He will bring His redemptive process into glorious fulfillment and consummation. If God wants to save some Russians, He is well able to reach inside the iron curtain and take those lives unto Himself that are appointed of the Father. If He wants any number of Chinese, He is able to apprehend them unto salvation in spite of the iron rule of an atheistic government. There is no continent too dark, no people too enslaved by satanic powers, no man too incorrigible but what His power can reach them. Christ has been lifted up from the earth, and HE WILL DRAW ALL MEN UNTO HIMSELF. You can count on it!