1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,520 Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church Podcast, 2 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:06,480 where we are proclaiming the truth to the world. 3 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:09,720 My name is Pastor Josh and I want to thank you for listening to 4 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:10,480 this podcast. 5 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:14,680 I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen 6 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:16,080 you in the word of God. 7 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:20,160 Now come along, let's look into the Bible and see what God has 8 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:21,440 for us here today. 9 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:25,440 Well, we're in Romans chapter 8. 10 00:00:25,860 --> 00:00:28,580 I. I know that we are in December and I know that we are in 11 00:00:28,580 --> 00:00:33,260 the Christmas season, but I do need to finish the thought here in 12 00:00:33,260 --> 00:00:34,420 Romans chapter 8. 13 00:00:34,900 --> 00:00:41,380 We went through Romans chapter 828 last week, and I do believe that 14 00:00:41,380 --> 00:00:47,780 we need by way of context to finish verses 28 and 30 because of 15 00:00:47,780 --> 00:00:50,340 the fact that the thought is being completed there. 16 00:00:51,140 --> 00:00:53,980 But I do want to let you know that we will be talking more and 17 00:00:53,980 --> 00:00:58,170 more about the Christmas season and the coming of Jesus Christ. 18 00:00:59,050 --> 00:01:01,970 But I will say that it will be intertwined with the book of Romans 19 00:01:01,970 --> 00:01:05,450 because I believe that there really isn't a better passage that 20 00:01:05,450 --> 00:01:08,410 explains the love of Christ better than Romans chapter eight. 21 00:01:08,730 --> 00:01:10,490 And we're going to talk about next week. 22 00:01:10,890 --> 00:01:13,770 How can we know that God really loves us? 23 00:01:14,250 --> 00:01:17,250 But in the meantime, we need to finish the thought here in Romans 24 00:01:17,250 --> 00:01:17,450 8. 25 00:01:17,450 --> 00:01:19,770 So if you have your Bibles, turn there with me. 26 00:01:19,850 --> 00:01:20,730 Romans 8. 27 00:01:20,970 --> 00:01:23,170 And we're going to pick up where we left off last week. 28 00:01:23,170 --> 00:01:24,700 Romans 8.28. 29 00:01:25,020 --> 00:01:29,300 And this was a verse that we talked about last week, and it's 30 00:01:29,300 --> 00:01:33,220 a difficult verse for us to talk about because sometimes we don't 31 00:01:33,220 --> 00:01:35,180 feel like this verse is coming to pass. 32 00:01:35,580 --> 00:01:38,900 But again, it's not about what we feel, it's about what we know 33 00:01:38,900 --> 00:01:39,980 about our Savior. 34 00:01:40,540 --> 00:01:44,620 And through that confidence or faith in him, we're able to live 35 00:01:44,620 --> 00:01:47,900 a life of peace and we're able to live a life of power. 36 00:01:48,300 --> 00:01:53,400 Romans 8:28 says, and we know that all things work together for 37 00:01:53,400 --> 00:01:57,840 good to them that love God, to them who are the called according 38 00:01:57,840 --> 00:01:58,760 to his purpose. 39 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:01,320 Now I want to highlight just a few things here. 40 00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:04,800 The, the first part of that verse says and we know. 41 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:06,600 So there speaks of a confidence here. 42 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:07,000 But. 43 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:10,600 But in the original Greek it speaks of an experiential confidence. 44 00:02:11,080 --> 00:02:14,680 Saying this we know, we've experienced, we've seen. 45 00:02:15,320 --> 00:02:18,980 And so by way of context we understand that Paul is saying because 46 00:02:18,980 --> 00:02:22,580 of what we have witnessed in the past, because of the saints that 47 00:02:22,580 --> 00:02:25,980 have come before, because of those that have come before us, and 48 00:02:25,980 --> 00:02:29,860 we've seen God working in their life, we know that God is going 49 00:02:29,860 --> 00:02:30,860 to do the same with us. 50 00:02:31,020 --> 00:02:33,420 We have no reason to doubt that God is going to change. 51 00:02:33,420 --> 00:02:36,220 And we know that in the word of God, the Bible says that he does 52 00:02:36,220 --> 00:02:36,700 not change. 53 00:02:36,940 --> 00:02:39,740 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever. 54 00:02:40,220 --> 00:02:43,580 And so, just as God has been faithful with those who have come 55 00:02:43,580 --> 00:02:46,980 before us, so we know that God will be faithful with us today. 56 00:02:47,220 --> 00:02:50,260 And so if he tarries that he will be faithful to those that come 57 00:02:50,260 --> 00:02:50,900 in the future. 58 00:02:51,300 --> 00:02:53,380 That's what Romans 8:28 is saying. 59 00:02:53,540 --> 00:02:58,260 We know, we've experienced, we've seen that all things work together 60 00:02:58,260 --> 00:03:02,220 for good to them that love God, to them who are the call. 61 00:03:02,220 --> 00:03:04,740 So it's not working together for everybody in the world. 62 00:03:04,980 --> 00:03:08,340 It's working together for the family of God, for the children of 63 00:03:08,340 --> 00:03:08,660 God. 64 00:03:08,660 --> 00:03:11,750 And so we have seen it, we've experienced it. 65 00:03:11,750 --> 00:03:14,790 And so the saints that have gone before, like we saw In Hebrews 66 00:03:14,790 --> 00:03:18,430 chapter 11 last week, the saints that had faith in the past, 67 00:03:18,590 --> 00:03:20,190 God preserved them. 68 00:03:20,430 --> 00:03:24,190 God made all things work together for their good and for his 69 00:03:24,190 --> 00:03:24,670 glory. 70 00:03:25,150 --> 00:03:28,550 A good example of this is seen in Genesis chapter 50. 71 00:03:28,550 --> 00:03:29,790 I'd like you to see this. 72 00:03:30,030 --> 00:03:33,270 This is a passage that I wanted to go to last week, but for 73 00:03:33,270 --> 00:03:34,990 the sake of time, we didn't make it there. 74 00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:38,960 But Genesis chapter 50, most of you know the story of a fella 75 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:39,800 named Joseph. 76 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:43,040 And Joseph did not have an easy beginning. 77 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:44,400 He didn't really have an easy life. 78 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:46,520 Joseph went through a lot of persecution. 79 00:03:47,320 --> 00:03:49,320 Joseph went through a lot of betrayal. 80 00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:55,200 Joseph went through lies about him being imprisoned falsely, all 81 00:03:55,200 --> 00:03:55,800 of these things. 82 00:03:56,120 --> 00:03:59,600 But we're going to see what Joseph's testimony is at the end 83 00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:00,280 of his life. 84 00:04:02,050 --> 00:04:03,810 Well, what does he see his life to be? 85 00:04:04,370 --> 00:04:06,130 He could have complained about a lot. 86 00:04:06,930 --> 00:04:08,210 He could have said, look at me. 87 00:04:08,210 --> 00:04:12,370 In spite of all these difficulties I've overcome, I'm better 88 00:04:12,370 --> 00:04:13,810 than my circumstances. 89 00:04:13,970 --> 00:04:18,210 But In Genesis chapter 50, verse number 20, we see Joseph's 90 00:04:18,210 --> 00:04:19,010 heart in the matter. 91 00:04:19,330 --> 00:04:20,690 He's had a difficult life. 92 00:04:21,570 --> 00:04:25,570 His brothers betrayed him, sold him into slavery. 93 00:04:25,970 --> 00:04:29,050 He went into Potiphar's house and was falsely accused. 94 00:04:29,770 --> 00:04:30,890 He was thrown in prison. 95 00:04:30,890 --> 00:04:32,170 He was forgotten in prison. 96 00:04:32,330 --> 00:04:36,690 Eventually God worked him out to be one of the leaders in Egypt. 97 00:04:36,690 --> 00:04:37,970 And God blessed him. 98 00:04:37,970 --> 00:04:42,410 But in Genesis, chapter 50, verse 20, he says, but as for you, 99 00:04:42,410 --> 00:04:46,410 and he's speaking in this place to his brothers, he says, you 100 00:04:46,570 --> 00:04:47,330 wanted what? 101 00:04:47,330 --> 00:04:50,810 He says, but as for you, ye thought evil against me. 102 00:04:51,450 --> 00:04:55,820 So this shows that Joseph's brothers had evil in their hearts. 103 00:04:55,820 --> 00:04:57,940 It didn't mean that God caused the evil. 104 00:04:58,260 --> 00:05:00,500 It didn't mean that God is the author of evil. 105 00:05:00,580 --> 00:05:04,220 But Joseph's brothers had evil in their hearts and they acted on 106 00:05:04,220 --> 00:05:06,580 that evil in their sinful desires. 107 00:05:07,620 --> 00:05:11,020 So again this, if we go Back to Romans 8:28, it's not about all 108 00:05:11,020 --> 00:05:14,900 things are good and God ordains all of these things. 109 00:05:14,900 --> 00:05:16,460 And what does it say here? 110 00:05:16,460 --> 00:05:19,740 It says that these individuals thought it was evil, they were committing 111 00:05:19,740 --> 00:05:21,140 evil, they were committing sin. 112 00:05:21,410 --> 00:05:25,650 But then it says, but God meant it unto good to bring to pass 113 00:05:25,650 --> 00:05:28,770 as it is this day to save much people alive. 114 00:05:28,930 --> 00:05:32,410 Joseph has the blessing to see the bigger picture, to say there 115 00:05:32,410 --> 00:05:33,650 was evil done against me. 116 00:05:33,650 --> 00:05:37,690 God did not cause that, but God made that all for his good so 117 00:05:37,690 --> 00:05:39,330 that people could be saved. 118 00:05:39,810 --> 00:05:43,810 I think that this is the greatest picture of Romans 8:28 being 119 00:05:43,810 --> 00:05:44,290 played out. 120 00:05:44,290 --> 00:05:47,290 He says, there are people that have caused evil in my life. 121 00:05:47,290 --> 00:05:49,300 There are people that have, that have sinned against me. 122 00:05:49,300 --> 00:05:51,300 There have been people that have betrayed me. 123 00:05:51,300 --> 00:05:55,420 But God in His sovereignty and his all powerful nature has used 124 00:05:55,420 --> 00:05:58,620 all of those bad things for my good. 125 00:05:59,420 --> 00:06:01,540 And that's what we have to understand when we're looking at 126 00:06:01,540 --> 00:06:02,540 Romans 8:28. 127 00:06:02,540 --> 00:06:05,540 This is not a passage that says that everything that happens 128 00:06:05,540 --> 00:06:06,460 to me is good. 129 00:06:07,180 --> 00:06:09,860 It's not a passage that says that God makes all these things happen 130 00:06:09,860 --> 00:06:11,900 and even if they're bad things, they're good things. 131 00:06:11,900 --> 00:06:16,590 No, it says that even with sin all around us, even with this broken 132 00:06:16,590 --> 00:06:21,990 world of, of sickness and curses and all of the evil, God still 133 00:06:21,990 --> 00:06:25,670 is all powerful to make those things for his good and for our good. 134 00:06:25,910 --> 00:06:27,590 That that's the power of God. 135 00:06:28,630 --> 00:06:31,950 I've recently had an opportunity to talk to some individuals 136 00:06:31,950 --> 00:06:33,350 that have said, you know what? 137 00:06:33,510 --> 00:06:36,630 You can't tell someone who's in pain that God loves them. 138 00:06:36,630 --> 00:06:36,870 Why? 139 00:06:36,870 --> 00:06:39,190 Because if God loved them, he would take them out of that pain. 140 00:06:39,190 --> 00:06:40,950 That is not what the Bible ever says. 141 00:06:41,740 --> 00:06:43,740 Does God have the power to heal every sickness? 142 00:06:43,740 --> 00:06:44,100 Yes. 143 00:06:44,100 --> 00:06:45,020 But he doesn't. 144 00:06:45,180 --> 00:06:46,580 And he has a bigger purpose. 145 00:06:46,580 --> 00:06:49,380 And so the bigger understanding is that God is good 146 00:06:49,380 --> 00:06:53,460 and that whatever he does is good and whatever he allows, he can 147 00:06:53,460 --> 00:06:53,980 make good. 148 00:06:53,980 --> 00:06:55,260 And I have to trust in Him. 149 00:06:55,260 --> 00:06:56,620 I don't know all of his ways. 150 00:06:57,900 --> 00:07:00,460 And where that starts is a place of faith. 151 00:07:00,700 --> 00:07:04,860 If you do not believe that God is all good, if you do not believe 152 00:07:04,860 --> 00:07:09,110 that God is all powerful, then we have place of doubt, then we have 153 00:07:09,270 --> 00:07:12,070 place of bitterness, then we have place of questioning. 154 00:07:12,070 --> 00:07:14,630 And who are we to question the goodness of God? 155 00:07:15,030 --> 00:07:17,270 Who are we to question the will of God? 156 00:07:17,910 --> 00:07:20,470 What we must say is, lord, I know that you are good. 157 00:07:20,550 --> 00:07:22,869 I know that you are not the cause of this evil. 158 00:07:23,270 --> 00:07:25,990 You've allowed this to happen to me for whatever reason. 159 00:07:26,070 --> 00:07:30,230 And Lord, give me the wisdom, give me the patience, give me the 160 00:07:30,230 --> 00:07:33,990 peace, give me the understanding to know that this is 161 00:07:33,990 --> 00:07:38,510 going to work out for your good and mine, your glory and my 162 00:07:38,510 --> 00:07:39,110 blessing. 163 00:07:39,510 --> 00:07:42,110 And we talked about this last week, that the greatest blessing 164 00:07:42,110 --> 00:07:45,230 that any of us can have would be that one day we are glorified, 165 00:07:45,230 --> 00:07:47,030 one day that we will be with Him. 166 00:07:47,030 --> 00:07:49,350 And that's the blessing that we are longing for. 167 00:07:50,630 --> 00:07:54,270 The truth is, is that I could be praying really, really hard to 168 00:07:54,270 --> 00:07:57,070 get out of a situation in my life, but it might not be God's will 169 00:07:57,070 --> 00:07:58,310 for me to get out of that situation. 170 00:07:58,830 --> 00:08:01,350 It might be that God is allowing me to be in this situation 171 00:08:01,350 --> 00:08:05,150 for, as Joseph said, so that people can be saved, so that people 172 00:08:05,150 --> 00:08:08,350 can know the truth, so that people can see God's faithfulness 173 00:08:08,350 --> 00:08:12,030 through me, so that they may see my good works and my faithfulness 174 00:08:12,030 --> 00:08:14,510 and glorify my Father, which is in heaven. 175 00:08:15,310 --> 00:08:16,990 So that's Romans 8:28. 176 00:08:17,390 --> 00:08:21,070 He says, we know, we've experienced that all things work 177 00:08:21,070 --> 00:08:25,310 together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called 178 00:08:25,390 --> 00:08:26,470 according to his purpose. 179 00:08:26,470 --> 00:08:29,640 And so today what we're going to be talking about is the called, 180 00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:35,080 because the next few verses are verses that have been highly 181 00:08:35,720 --> 00:08:39,400 taught in many different capacities, various interpretations, 182 00:08:39,880 --> 00:08:43,679 and there are various theological implications from those 183 00:08:43,679 --> 00:08:44,440 interpretations. 184 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:52,080 We can read Romans 8, 28 and 29 and 30 and believe that God ordains 185 00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:59,130 evil, that God selects certain people to go to heaven, and he selects 186 00:08:59,130 --> 00:09:01,970 certain people not to go to heaven for his glory. 187 00:09:02,610 --> 00:09:07,130 Or we could read verses 29 and 30 and see that God just knows what's 188 00:09:07,130 --> 00:09:07,650 going to happen. 189 00:09:07,810 --> 00:09:08,969 He isn't sovereign. 190 00:09:08,969 --> 00:09:10,370 He just sees what's going to happen. 191 00:09:10,450 --> 00:09:14,610 And then he then blesses those that make their own decisions. 192 00:09:15,330 --> 00:09:19,060 And those are two interpretations of this passage that 193 00:09:19,060 --> 00:09:21,180 I believe many Christians trust in. 194 00:09:21,180 --> 00:09:24,860 But I want to bring to you a third interpretation of this passage, 195 00:09:25,340 --> 00:09:28,700 and I think that I will walk us through it this morning enough 196 00:09:28,700 --> 00:09:29,700 to understand it. 197 00:09:29,700 --> 00:09:33,420 And then the Lord might move your heart to believe whatever God 198 00:09:33,500 --> 00:09:34,619 calls you to believe here. 199 00:09:34,619 --> 00:09:37,740 So let's look at verse number 29, for whom he did foreknow. 200 00:09:39,820 --> 00:09:45,580 He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, 201 00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:49,160 that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 202 00:09:50,040 --> 00:09:51,800 There's a lot there. 203 00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:56,960 We could spend weeks and weeks and weeks on this verse alone and 204 00:09:56,960 --> 00:09:57,920 dig deeper into it. 205 00:09:57,920 --> 00:09:59,320 We don't have the time to do so. 206 00:09:59,480 --> 00:10:02,600 So what I'm going to try to do is give a thorough analysis of this 207 00:10:02,600 --> 00:10:05,800 passage of Scripture with context, with. 208 00:10:05,800 --> 00:10:10,800 With the whole book of the Bible in mind as we look into the 209 00:10:10,800 --> 00:10:11,640 character of God. 210 00:10:11,930 --> 00:10:12,810 And what does this mean? 211 00:10:13,690 --> 00:10:18,010 That he foreknew, that he predestinated that we are conformed 212 00:10:18,010 --> 00:10:19,090 into the image of a Son. 213 00:10:19,090 --> 00:10:21,130 We're going to look into that here this morning. 214 00:10:21,130 --> 00:10:24,010 So let's pray, and then we're going to dive right into this passage. 215 00:10:24,010 --> 00:10:26,770 Lord, I pray that you'd be with us in this sermon this morning. 216 00:10:26,770 --> 00:10:30,890 I pray that the Word of God is clearly presented, Lord, that the 217 00:10:30,890 --> 00:10:34,170 Holy Spirit works in our hearts and in our minds. 218 00:10:34,250 --> 00:10:37,650 Lord, I pray that we can find peace in what your word says here 219 00:10:37,650 --> 00:10:38,170 this morning. 220 00:10:38,810 --> 00:10:42,050 Lord, help us to understand you, Lord, help us to walk in your 221 00:10:42,050 --> 00:10:45,050 grace, Lord, help us to understand that here this morning 222 00:10:45,130 --> 00:10:48,010 that there's many burdens in our life, that there's many struggles 223 00:10:48,010 --> 00:10:50,970 that we might face, but ultimately you are in control, Lord, 224 00:10:50,970 --> 00:10:53,690 and you have a plan and a purpose for our lives. 225 00:10:53,690 --> 00:10:56,690 And so, Lord, I pray that you remove any distractions from our 226 00:10:56,690 --> 00:10:59,010 minds and from our hearts and allow us to see you clearly here 227 00:10:59,010 --> 00:10:59,530 this morning. 228 00:10:59,690 --> 00:11:01,210 In Jesus name I pray. 229 00:11:01,210 --> 00:11:01,770 Amen. 230 00:11:02,570 --> 00:11:06,090 So one philosophy of verse 29 is that God ordained. 231 00:11:07,780 --> 00:11:10,620 Some to heaven at the beginning of time and some to hell. 232 00:11:10,620 --> 00:11:11,860 This is called determinism. 233 00:11:12,420 --> 00:11:18,420 Those he did foreknow, meaning the ones that he knew before he predestined. 234 00:11:18,660 --> 00:11:21,820 The other mindset that many people have is that he foresaw through 235 00:11:21,820 --> 00:11:25,460 the corridors of time, who would believe and then called them. 236 00:11:26,260 --> 00:11:28,260 That would be one interpretation as well. 237 00:11:28,260 --> 00:11:31,700 But I want to propose to you here this morning, then, verse 29, 238 00:11:32,030 --> 00:11:35,070 that that word for no could be interpreted a few different ways. 239 00:11:35,070 --> 00:11:38,150 Actually, in the original Greek, that word for no means a few 240 00:11:38,150 --> 00:11:38,510 different things. 241 00:11:38,510 --> 00:11:43,550 It means one to ordain, but also number two to just know beforehand, 242 00:11:43,550 --> 00:11:45,710 to be personal with beforehand. 243 00:11:46,750 --> 00:11:51,070 And so I believe that this is talking in past tense about those 244 00:11:51,150 --> 00:11:52,990 that God knew before. 245 00:11:53,710 --> 00:11:54,910 Romans, chapter 8. 246 00:11:54,910 --> 00:11:56,990 We know that's what he's talking about in verse 28. 247 00:11:57,070 --> 00:12:00,160 And we know that all things work together for good to them that 248 00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:00,640 love God. 249 00:12:00,640 --> 00:12:04,120 We know we've experienced, we've seen other saints in the past 250 00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:06,520 have God work good in their life. 251 00:12:06,920 --> 00:12:10,240 So therefore, those he knew before, that's what that word foreknow 252 00:12:10,240 --> 00:12:10,440 means. 253 00:12:10,440 --> 00:12:15,120 Those that he knew before he also did predestinate to be conformed 254 00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:16,360 to the image of his Son. 255 00:12:16,920 --> 00:12:19,640 Now, to understand this passage, we have to understand that 256 00:12:19,640 --> 00:12:22,360 God is not bound by space and time. 257 00:12:22,840 --> 00:12:25,720 It's not like God was sitting in the past and looking into the 258 00:12:25,720 --> 00:12:25,960 future. 259 00:12:26,500 --> 00:12:28,500 Not like God is in the future looking to the past. 260 00:12:28,660 --> 00:12:30,620 God is above time and space. 261 00:12:30,620 --> 00:12:32,860 He is not bound by linear time. 262 00:12:32,860 --> 00:12:35,380 Therefore he is in every moment of time. 263 00:12:36,500 --> 00:12:40,540 He is not looking two days ago and thinking, well, in two days he's 264 00:12:40,540 --> 00:12:41,060 going to do this. 265 00:12:41,060 --> 00:12:41,940 He already knew that. 266 00:12:42,020 --> 00:12:44,820 It's not like us in the way that we see movies and the way that 267 00:12:44,820 --> 00:12:45,620 we read books. 268 00:12:45,620 --> 00:12:48,180 We see that there's that linear time, that we're bound by 269 00:12:48,180 --> 00:12:48,300 that. 270 00:12:48,300 --> 00:12:50,100 But God is not bound by space and time. 271 00:12:50,260 --> 00:12:55,120 We also need to understand that God is not evil and he is not 272 00:12:55,120 --> 00:12:57,280 the author of moral evil in this world. 273 00:12:57,280 --> 00:13:01,000 James Chapter 1, verse 13 tells us that God cannot tempt us 274 00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:01,440 with sin. 275 00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:04,360 Therefore he does not bring sin into an individual's life. 276 00:13:04,360 --> 00:13:07,080 He is not the causer of evil in this world. 277 00:13:08,120 --> 00:13:11,880 I would venture to say that God is not the one who creates more 278 00:13:11,880 --> 00:13:12,360 evil. 279 00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:18,120 Actually, moral evil is not a thing to be made, but a choice contrary 280 00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:19,640 to God's purposes. 281 00:13:20,050 --> 00:13:22,690 So essentially evil is the absence of God. 282 00:13:23,170 --> 00:13:24,810 Evil is the absence of good. 283 00:13:24,810 --> 00:13:26,690 And we know that God is ultimately good. 284 00:13:27,250 --> 00:13:29,530 So there's not necessarily a creator of evil. 285 00:13:29,530 --> 00:13:32,370 It's the absence or the rebellion against God. 286 00:13:33,730 --> 00:13:38,490 God's holy character and his his law give us what moral truth 287 00:13:38,490 --> 00:13:38,850 is. 288 00:13:39,010 --> 00:13:42,770 Therefore, moral evil does not conform to God's law or his will. 289 00:13:43,090 --> 00:13:43,810 God is good. 290 00:13:44,050 --> 00:13:46,830 We know that through Psalm 34, God is holy. 291 00:13:46,830 --> 00:13:49,110 We know that through many passages of Scripture he's thrice 292 00:13:49,110 --> 00:13:49,590 holy. 293 00:13:49,830 --> 00:13:53,390 God is loving, therefore his plans and purposes are good, holy 294 00:13:53,390 --> 00:13:53,830 and loving. 295 00:13:53,830 --> 00:14:00,710 Therefore, God does not condone or create or instigate evil 296 00:14:00,710 --> 00:14:01,390 in this world. 297 00:14:01,390 --> 00:14:04,590 Therefore, we know that there's other passages of Scripture 298 00:14:04,590 --> 00:14:07,510 that tell us that God is not willing that any should perish, but 299 00:14:07,590 --> 00:14:09,990 all should come to repentance. 300 00:14:11,110 --> 00:14:16,130 And so for someone to read Romans 8:29, I think that God, before 301 00:14:16,130 --> 00:14:19,650 the foundation of time, ordained some to go to heaven and 302 00:14:19,650 --> 00:14:23,330 ordained some to go to hell and wanted that and uses that for 303 00:14:23,330 --> 00:14:28,090 his glory would be a contra contradictory element of his character. 304 00:14:28,730 --> 00:14:31,130 Now some would say, well, I thought other passages of Scripture 305 00:14:31,130 --> 00:14:32,890 speak to predestination. 306 00:14:32,890 --> 00:14:35,130 I believe completely in predestination, which we're going 307 00:14:35,130 --> 00:14:36,210 to talk about here in a few moments. 308 00:14:36,210 --> 00:14:39,450 I completely believe in being chosen and elect. 309 00:14:39,450 --> 00:14:42,920 But we're going to get to what that means here, here in a few minutes. 310 00:14:42,920 --> 00:14:46,960 So the key word in this passage in verse 29 is for no. 311 00:14:47,840 --> 00:14:51,440 I believe that Paul is referencing saints from the past, 312 00:14:52,080 --> 00:14:55,120 due to the past tense of the verb being used in this passage. 313 00:14:55,120 --> 00:14:57,880 And I know that we don't really want to talk about grammar, 314 00:14:57,880 --> 00:15:01,680 maybe on a Sunday morning, but grammar is important because in these 315 00:15:01,680 --> 00:15:06,000 next two verses, verses 29 and 30, he's speaking in the past tense. 316 00:15:06,480 --> 00:15:08,880 He is speaking in something that has already happened. 317 00:15:09,670 --> 00:15:12,870 Now, some would argue that he's talking about the future, but 318 00:15:12,950 --> 00:15:15,590 he's so sure in what the future is going to be that he's speaking 319 00:15:15,590 --> 00:15:16,470 in the past tense. 320 00:15:16,470 --> 00:15:19,950 I don't believe that to be the case because we see that this whole 321 00:15:19,950 --> 00:15:22,310 passage of Scripture is dealing with the. 322 00:15:22,470 --> 00:15:25,030 The looking back to something and the looking to something. 323 00:15:25,030 --> 00:15:28,750 If you go back to Romans 8:28, he says, for I reckon that the sufferings 324 00:15:28,750 --> 00:15:31,910 of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory 325 00:15:32,230 --> 00:15:34,150 which shall be revealed in us. 326 00:15:34,150 --> 00:15:36,860 Meaning he's talking there in the present, and he's talking about 327 00:15:36,860 --> 00:15:38,540 the glory that will be revealed. 328 00:15:38,540 --> 00:15:41,780 But if you look at verses 29 and 30, he's speaking of those that 329 00:15:41,780 --> 00:15:43,180 have been glorified, those. 330 00:15:43,180 --> 00:15:44,580 Those that have been justified. 331 00:15:44,580 --> 00:15:47,260 So in a past tense sense, that's what he's talking about. 332 00:15:47,260 --> 00:15:52,060 So a basic definition of this word for know would be to know before, 333 00:15:52,220 --> 00:15:53,740 to be familiar with before. 334 00:15:53,980 --> 00:15:57,340 He uses this word in this way two different occasions. 335 00:15:57,580 --> 00:16:03,430 If you look to Romans 11:2, Romans chapter 11, verse 2, it says 336 00:16:03,510 --> 00:16:07,350 God hath not cast away his people, which he foreknew. 337 00:16:08,390 --> 00:16:11,270 Now, in the whole context of Romans chapter 10, he's speaking 338 00:16:11,270 --> 00:16:14,710 of people that he knew before, people that he had a relationship 339 00:16:14,710 --> 00:16:15,030 before. 340 00:16:15,350 --> 00:16:18,710 For I also am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe 341 00:16:18,710 --> 00:16:19,270 of Benjamin. 342 00:16:19,270 --> 00:16:20,550 So he's speaking of the past. 343 00:16:20,790 --> 00:16:27,750 And so that word is used there in that same way in 11 Hebrews 11:2, 344 00:16:27,910 --> 00:16:28,830 he foreknew. 345 00:16:28,830 --> 00:16:31,470 He's talking about people that he knew before what ye not that the 346 00:16:31,470 --> 00:16:34,630 Scripture saith of Elias, how he maketh intercession to God against 347 00:16:34,630 --> 00:16:35,270 Israel. 348 00:16:36,310 --> 00:16:39,830 And so I, I want you to see that there in 11, verse 2, he's using 349 00:16:39,830 --> 00:16:43,190 that word for no as someone that he had experienced with before. 350 00:16:43,510 --> 00:16:46,230 Another passage of Scripture that you might be familiar with, 351 00:16:46,630 --> 00:16:48,990 or maybe not, but it doesn't matter because we're going to go 352 00:16:48,990 --> 00:16:53,630 there is Acts chapter 24, verses 4, or excuse me, Acts chapter 353 00:16:53,630 --> 00:16:55,570 26, verses 4 and 5. 354 00:16:56,050 --> 00:16:58,850 Now, I'm doing a lot of this to build a case here, but we're going 355 00:16:58,850 --> 00:17:00,610 to get to the application here in a few moments. 356 00:17:01,170 --> 00:17:04,210 Acts 26, 4 and 5. 357 00:17:05,090 --> 00:17:08,690 This is again another Reference to somebody knowing someone 358 00:17:08,690 --> 00:17:09,090 before. 359 00:17:09,330 --> 00:17:12,130 Just having an experiential relationship with someone before. 360 00:17:12,610 --> 00:17:15,210 It doesn't necessarily mean just knowing before. 361 00:17:15,210 --> 00:17:17,970 It means to have an experience of fellowship before. 362 00:17:18,610 --> 00:17:22,430 So Acts chapter 26, verses 4 and 5 says, My manner of my life 363 00:17:22,430 --> 00:17:26,030 from my youth, which was at the first among mine own nation at 364 00:17:26,030 --> 00:17:29,750 Israel, know all the Jews which knew me from the beginning, 365 00:17:29,910 --> 00:17:33,270 if they would testify that after the most straightest sect of 366 00:17:33,270 --> 00:17:34,830 our religion, I lived a Pharisee. 367 00:17:34,830 --> 00:17:37,750 So this is speaking of people who just knew Paul before. 368 00:17:38,230 --> 00:17:40,630 And so this is just an experiential relationship. 369 00:17:40,630 --> 00:17:43,750 So if we take those two references and how they're applied 370 00:17:43,910 --> 00:17:49,740 to Romans 8:30 and 8:29, it would be that God had a relationship 371 00:17:49,740 --> 00:17:50,740 with the saints before. 372 00:17:50,820 --> 00:17:54,980 And therefore because of that relationship, we know that he predestinated 373 00:17:55,460 --> 00:17:59,340 the corporate elect, those who believe in him for salvation, to 374 00:17:59,340 --> 00:18:02,580 be conformed and image to His Son. 375 00:18:03,140 --> 00:18:04,820 So it could be understood this way. 376 00:18:05,060 --> 00:18:08,620 Just as God has been faithful to the ones who have been trusting 377 00:18:08,620 --> 00:18:12,180 in him through faith, through the past, so he will be faithful 378 00:18:12,180 --> 00:18:15,150 to those today who and tomorrow who do the same. 379 00:18:15,630 --> 00:18:19,550 So verse 29, for whom he did for no, the saints of the past, he 380 00:18:19,550 --> 00:18:21,710 also did predestinate, meaning this. 381 00:18:21,870 --> 00:18:25,830 Those that have trusted in God in the past were part of the corporate 382 00:18:25,830 --> 00:18:26,630 elect of God. 383 00:18:26,630 --> 00:18:29,230 Those that he has called for a specific purpose. 384 00:18:29,470 --> 00:18:31,470 We who believe today are still part of that. 385 00:18:31,630 --> 00:18:35,150 We who believe today are part of the group of God that He has called 386 00:18:35,150 --> 00:18:36,070 to be more like Him. 387 00:18:36,070 --> 00:18:38,510 And so the predestination is this. 388 00:18:38,670 --> 00:18:42,030 If we are a child of God, he has predestinated us to have this 389 00:18:42,030 --> 00:18:43,150 happen in our life. 390 00:18:43,530 --> 00:18:44,170 What is that? 391 00:18:44,490 --> 00:18:47,130 To be conformed to the image of His Son. 392 00:18:47,210 --> 00:18:49,570 And that's really where we want to spend a lot of time here 393 00:18:49,570 --> 00:18:50,010 this morning. 394 00:18:50,650 --> 00:18:53,970 Because if you are a child of God, if you have trusted in him, 395 00:18:53,970 --> 00:18:57,890 if you have put your faith in the work of Jesus Christ, if you 396 00:18:57,890 --> 00:19:02,730 have put your faith in the person of Jesus Christ, he now has 397 00:19:02,730 --> 00:19:04,530 a plan and a purpose for your life. 398 00:19:04,530 --> 00:19:07,530 I don't know if you've ever heard a pastor or a teacher or anyone 399 00:19:07,530 --> 00:19:09,690 get up and say, God has a plan for your life. 400 00:19:09,690 --> 00:19:11,900 And a lot of times we think, well, does that mean I'm supposed 401 00:19:11,900 --> 00:19:15,140 to live in Delaware or Florida or California? 402 00:19:15,300 --> 00:19:18,340 Well, God does have that type of plan for your life. 403 00:19:18,340 --> 00:19:22,660 But I think that all of us can agree that God has a similar plan. 404 00:19:22,980 --> 00:19:25,820 That he has predestined from the beginning of time that all of 405 00:19:25,820 --> 00:19:28,660 his children become more and More like Jesus Christ. 406 00:19:29,060 --> 00:19:30,980 That's the idea of Christ likeness. 407 00:19:31,460 --> 00:19:36,340 And so to be conformed means to be formed in the image of something. 408 00:19:37,310 --> 00:19:39,550 And so what we could read verse 29 as is this. 409 00:19:39,870 --> 00:19:43,390 Just as God has known others in the past, he did predestinate 410 00:19:43,390 --> 00:19:45,710 those to be conformed to the image of His Son. 411 00:19:45,790 --> 00:19:49,870 And now when he knows us, he then predestinates us to be conformed 412 00:19:49,870 --> 00:19:55,310 into the image of His Son, to be molded, to be shaped, to grow 413 00:19:55,390 --> 00:19:57,830 in a place where we are more and more like Christ. 414 00:19:57,830 --> 00:20:01,070 And so what we see here is this God's plan for us. 415 00:20:01,070 --> 00:20:06,550 It's God's will for us to be spiritually mature, to grow in our 416 00:20:06,550 --> 00:20:07,590 understanding of Him. 417 00:20:07,670 --> 00:20:10,550 And the way that that looks like in our life is that we live 418 00:20:10,710 --> 00:20:15,350 and react and believe and love like Christ. 419 00:20:15,830 --> 00:20:19,990 So spiritual growth equals conformity, Conformity equals Christ 420 00:20:19,990 --> 00:20:20,630 likeness. 421 00:20:20,790 --> 00:20:24,950 It is God's plan for all believers, all of his children, to 422 00:20:24,950 --> 00:20:28,270 be more and more like Christ, to love like Christ, to sacrifice 423 00:20:28,270 --> 00:20:31,510 like Christ, to, to forgive like Christ, to, to be patient like 424 00:20:31,510 --> 00:20:33,670 Christ, to humble themselves like Christ. 425 00:20:33,830 --> 00:20:36,150 And so I would encourage you to think about that here this morning, 426 00:20:36,150 --> 00:20:38,550 to think about not, am I a good person? 427 00:20:39,110 --> 00:20:41,270 Because a lot of us can say that we're good people. 428 00:20:41,350 --> 00:20:44,670 And compared to other people that aren't as good as us, we can 429 00:20:44,670 --> 00:20:45,510 say that we're good. 430 00:20:45,510 --> 00:20:48,310 But God doesn't say, be better than other people. 431 00:20:49,030 --> 00:20:50,790 God doesn't say, hey, you know what? 432 00:20:50,790 --> 00:20:51,590 Try your best. 433 00:20:51,590 --> 00:20:54,950 He says, no, the standard is Christ, and that's what we're supposed 434 00:20:54,950 --> 00:20:55,750 to grow into. 435 00:20:56,480 --> 00:20:58,800 Now the truth is, is that none of us are going to reach that standard. 436 00:20:59,600 --> 00:21:02,360 Because if some of us could reach a standard of perfection, then 437 00:21:02,360 --> 00:21:04,240 we would say we don't need God anymore. 438 00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:08,680 But the truth is, is that the Jesus is the dividing line between 439 00:21:08,680 --> 00:21:10,640 what is good and what is evil. 440 00:21:10,800 --> 00:21:12,480 None of us can reach what is good. 441 00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:15,480 Therefore, we need Christ in our life more and more to grow to 442 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:16,400 be more like Him. 443 00:21:16,880 --> 00:21:18,760 So we can never be perfectly Christlike. 444 00:21:18,760 --> 00:21:21,560 But the call for us as Christians is to be more Christ like 445 00:21:21,560 --> 00:21:22,560 every single day. 446 00:21:22,820 --> 00:21:24,380 And that's what he has predestined us to be. 447 00:21:24,380 --> 00:21:26,980 He's predestined us to be more and more like him. 448 00:21:27,380 --> 00:21:31,380 Verse 29, he says, to be conformed into the image of His Son, 449 00:21:31,460 --> 00:21:34,900 that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 450 00:21:35,380 --> 00:21:38,180 Now this confuses a lot of people because it says that Jesus 451 00:21:38,180 --> 00:21:40,100 is the firstborn among many brethren. 452 00:21:40,100 --> 00:21:41,860 Meaning is Jesus created? 453 00:21:43,060 --> 00:21:45,420 Did Jesus come as a creation of God? 454 00:21:45,420 --> 00:21:46,340 Well, that's heretical. 455 00:21:46,340 --> 00:21:49,230 We know that Jesus has always been John 1:1. 456 00:21:49,310 --> 00:21:52,790 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the 457 00:21:52,790 --> 00:21:53,870 Word was God. 458 00:21:54,910 --> 00:21:56,590 So how could he be firstborn? 459 00:21:56,750 --> 00:21:59,390 Well, again, we have to go back and understand what this word 460 00:21:59,390 --> 00:22:00,350 firstborn means. 461 00:22:01,070 --> 00:22:05,390 To be firstborn could mean the oldest child, right? 462 00:22:05,390 --> 00:22:10,070 So Micah is my firstborn, but that's not what it's talking about 463 00:22:10,070 --> 00:22:10,230 here. 464 00:22:10,230 --> 00:22:12,870 Because if that was what that was talking about, it would be contradicting 465 00:22:12,870 --> 00:22:14,270 everything else that we see in Scripture. 466 00:22:15,870 --> 00:22:18,870 Six times Jesus is declared to be the firstborn of God. 467 00:22:18,870 --> 00:22:21,230 You can see that in Romans chapter eight, like we're reading 468 00:22:21,230 --> 00:22:24,430 or Colossus chapter one, or Hebrews chapter one, or Hebrews chapter 469 00:22:24,430 --> 00:22:26,510 12, or even in Revelation chapter one. 470 00:22:27,390 --> 00:22:28,230 So what does this mean? 471 00:22:28,230 --> 00:22:30,590 Well, there's another meaning to being firstborn. 472 00:22:31,230 --> 00:22:34,710 In, in the Jewish culture, to be firstborn meant that you had the 473 00:22:34,710 --> 00:22:37,990 preeminence that that you were the most important, that you were 474 00:22:37,990 --> 00:22:40,830 special, that you were different, that you were unique. 475 00:22:41,590 --> 00:22:44,830 In this case, we know that in John 3:16, For God so loved the world 476 00:22:44,830 --> 00:22:47,190 that he gave his only begotten Son. 477 00:22:48,150 --> 00:22:50,950 Well, that word begotten specifically, only begotten together 478 00:22:51,030 --> 00:22:54,710 means specifically the difference, the uniqueness, the distinctness 479 00:22:54,710 --> 00:22:55,590 of who Jesus is. 480 00:22:55,590 --> 00:22:59,630 And so those passages that reveal that Jesus is the firstborn 481 00:22:59,630 --> 00:23:05,270 of God declare the pre existence, the sovereignty and the 482 00:23:05,350 --> 00:23:07,470 redemption that Jesus Christ offers. 483 00:23:07,470 --> 00:23:10,500 It speaks of his preeminence among any of us. 484 00:23:10,500 --> 00:23:14,340 So it does say earlier on in Romans that we are joint heirs with 485 00:23:14,340 --> 00:23:14,620 Christ. 486 00:23:14,700 --> 00:23:16,620 So some people actually teach this. 487 00:23:16,940 --> 00:23:19,540 Some people actually teach that when we become Christians, we 488 00:23:19,540 --> 00:23:23,020 become little gods, we become little Jesuses, and that we can access 489 00:23:23,020 --> 00:23:24,700 the same power that Jesus has. 490 00:23:24,779 --> 00:23:26,220 But that's not what this is saying. 491 00:23:26,460 --> 00:23:29,220 This is saying that we're joint heirs with Christ in the concept 492 00:23:29,220 --> 00:23:33,260 of our blessing and our access to God and in our eternality. 493 00:23:33,340 --> 00:23:37,250 But at the end of the day, it says here in verse 29 that he might 494 00:23:37,250 --> 00:23:40,250 be the firstborn among many brethren, meaning we're all part 495 00:23:40,250 --> 00:23:41,330 of the family of God. 496 00:23:41,330 --> 00:23:42,850 But he's the preeminent one. 497 00:23:43,250 --> 00:23:44,690 He's the one we worship. 498 00:23:45,170 --> 00:23:46,610 We don't worship other Christians. 499 00:23:46,850 --> 00:23:48,130 Sometimes we get in that trap. 500 00:23:48,130 --> 00:23:50,810 We look at other Christians who are maybe more spiritual than 501 00:23:50,810 --> 00:23:54,330 we are or just seem to be more powerful than we are, and we worship 502 00:23:54,330 --> 00:23:54,530 them. 503 00:23:54,530 --> 00:23:55,410 The Bible says no. 504 00:23:55,410 --> 00:23:57,930 The only one that is preeminent and deserves our worship 505 00:23:57,930 --> 00:23:58,530 is Jesus Christ. 506 00:23:58,530 --> 00:24:00,770 He's the firstborn among many brethren. 507 00:24:01,100 --> 00:24:04,860 Though we're joint heirs with him, we ultimately glorify him and 508 00:24:04,860 --> 00:24:06,540 lift him up as he is God. 509 00:24:06,540 --> 00:24:10,860 And so the phrase firstborn of all creation proclaims Christ's preeminence 510 00:24:11,020 --> 00:24:12,780 as the eternal Son of God. 511 00:24:13,100 --> 00:24:15,100 He is the one that created the universe. 512 00:24:15,100 --> 00:24:16,700 He is the ruler of all creation. 513 00:24:16,700 --> 00:24:19,340 Therefore, we have to sit underneath him and submit ourselves 514 00:24:19,340 --> 00:24:20,700 to him and be more like Him. 515 00:24:20,940 --> 00:24:22,460 So what does it mean to be Christ like? 516 00:24:22,860 --> 00:24:24,780 What does it mean to be conformed into his image? 517 00:24:24,780 --> 00:24:28,000 Well, the Bible says it's the Holy Spirit that conforms us into 518 00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:29,200 the image of the Son. 519 00:24:29,520 --> 00:24:31,040 It's dying to our flesh. 520 00:24:31,200 --> 00:24:33,840 And so we will fast forward to Romans, chapter 12. 521 00:24:34,880 --> 00:24:38,600 It says, Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by 522 00:24:38,600 --> 00:24:40,320 the renewing of your mind. 523 00:24:41,040 --> 00:24:43,840 The Bible says that we are transformed to be more like Christ 524 00:24:44,080 --> 00:24:48,560 when we die to our flesh, when we die to the wisdom of this world. 525 00:24:48,560 --> 00:24:51,480 And we say, lord, I'm following you and I'm obeying you, 526 00:24:51,480 --> 00:24:54,970 and I'm trusting that all things will work together for good 527 00:24:55,290 --> 00:25:00,010 as I trust you through the process of life, whether it be difficult 528 00:25:00,010 --> 00:25:04,090 or whether it be a blessing or whether it be a struggle, or whether 529 00:25:04,090 --> 00:25:06,730 it be through health or whether it be through sickness, I 530 00:25:06,730 --> 00:25:07,410 trust in you. 531 00:25:07,410 --> 00:25:11,690 Because through the process of purification, we become more and 532 00:25:11,690 --> 00:25:12,130 more like Him. 533 00:25:12,130 --> 00:25:16,370 The Bible speaks of a process of purification by putting us to 534 00:25:16,370 --> 00:25:19,820 the fire, by putting us through a trial of fire. 535 00:25:20,220 --> 00:25:22,540 And it says that as we are like gold. 536 00:25:22,860 --> 00:25:24,900 I don't know if any of you have gone through the process of 537 00:25:24,900 --> 00:25:28,580 the purification of gold or silver, but there's dross, there's. 538 00:25:28,580 --> 00:25:31,580 There's junk inside of these precious metals. 539 00:25:31,980 --> 00:25:32,900 And how do they do it? 540 00:25:32,900 --> 00:25:36,420 They put it to the fire and they basically skim out all of the 541 00:25:36,420 --> 00:25:36,700 junk. 542 00:25:36,700 --> 00:25:40,140 And it doesn't maybe come out all the way every single time, but 543 00:25:40,140 --> 00:25:42,700 that process goes over and over and over again. 544 00:25:43,500 --> 00:25:45,340 That's exactly what's happening in our life. 545 00:25:45,360 --> 00:25:45,520 We. 546 00:25:45,590 --> 00:25:48,470 We go through the trial not to question God. 547 00:25:48,470 --> 00:25:51,550 We go through the trial so that God can put us to the test, 548 00:25:51,550 --> 00:25:54,470 so that that junk that we're carrying along with us throughout 549 00:25:54,470 --> 00:25:57,390 our lives can be cleansed and that we can become more like him. 550 00:25:57,390 --> 00:26:01,030 And we can remove those distractions that are in this world, 551 00:26:01,110 --> 00:26:04,470 be not conformed to this world, but be transformed. 552 00:26:04,950 --> 00:26:06,470 And so it's becoming more like Him. 553 00:26:06,470 --> 00:26:07,110 It's dying. 554 00:26:07,110 --> 00:26:11,310 To the things of this world, I know that for me, sometimes I grip 555 00:26:11,310 --> 00:26:16,080 so tightly, but to the things of this world that I feel like that's 556 00:26:16,080 --> 00:26:18,320 what I deserve, and I feel like that's what I need. 557 00:26:18,320 --> 00:26:20,440 And I feel like that's what's going to give me hope. 558 00:26:20,920 --> 00:26:24,800 But at the end of the day, the Bible says the more we release the. 559 00:26:24,800 --> 00:26:24,960 The. 560 00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:27,360 The more we let go of the things of this world, the more we're 561 00:26:27,360 --> 00:26:30,440 able to allow the Lord to cling to us and we to cling to Him. 562 00:26:30,760 --> 00:26:32,920 Draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you. 563 00:26:34,280 --> 00:26:34,880 There's this. 564 00:26:34,880 --> 00:26:38,440 There's this story, and I don't know specifically how it. 565 00:26:39,560 --> 00:26:41,880 If this is the exact way that it played out, but I did. 566 00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:43,840 I thought I saw it on a nature documentary. 567 00:26:43,840 --> 00:26:46,600 I think I mentioned before, I like to watch nature documentaries 568 00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:47,160 and see things. 569 00:26:47,800 --> 00:26:50,760 There's these baboons and they, they couldn't. 570 00:26:50,760 --> 00:26:51,000 They. 571 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:55,480 They like went into this hole and it had like, some treats in there. 572 00:26:55,640 --> 00:26:59,040 And they was gripping so tightly to these, this food that 573 00:26:59,040 --> 00:27:01,320 he wanted and that, that it was a trap. 574 00:27:01,480 --> 00:27:02,520 He couldn't get his hand out. 575 00:27:02,520 --> 00:27:06,670 He could slip his hand into the hole open, but when he closed 576 00:27:06,670 --> 00:27:08,790 it to hold on to that food in there, he couldn't pull his hand 577 00:27:08,790 --> 00:27:08,910 out. 578 00:27:08,910 --> 00:27:10,350 And there was a way that they could trap them. 579 00:27:10,830 --> 00:27:12,510 And that's sometimes how we are in this world. 580 00:27:13,310 --> 00:27:14,790 Sometimes in this world, there's. 581 00:27:14,790 --> 00:27:17,790 There's the trap that's there and, and the thing that we consider 582 00:27:17,870 --> 00:27:20,750 to be so great and we reach our hand in there and all we have 583 00:27:20,750 --> 00:27:24,630 to do is let go of that thing that we are gripping onto, but we 584 00:27:24,630 --> 00:27:27,030 want to hold to it so tightly that we're trapped. 585 00:27:27,030 --> 00:27:29,590 And the Bible says that sometimes there are sins that are 586 00:27:29,590 --> 00:27:30,350 like a snare. 587 00:27:30,590 --> 00:27:32,590 The Bible says the fear of man is a snare. 588 00:27:32,830 --> 00:27:35,310 And we grip and we hold onto it, and we think that that's given 589 00:27:35,310 --> 00:27:36,190 us some type of security. 590 00:27:36,510 --> 00:27:40,190 But the Bible says when we relinquish our tight grip to this 591 00:27:40,190 --> 00:27:43,990 world, Colossians chapter three says, set your affections on 592 00:27:43,990 --> 00:27:46,230 the things which are above, not on the things which are below, 593 00:27:46,230 --> 00:27:47,950 not on the things of this earth. 594 00:27:47,950 --> 00:27:53,990 And so when we look at Romans 8, 29, we see that God has been faithful 595 00:27:53,990 --> 00:27:57,550 to those, and he has conformed them into the image of His Son. 596 00:27:58,650 --> 00:28:02,650 And he is likewise conforming us into the image of His Son. 597 00:28:02,650 --> 00:28:05,770 Now, you can't be conformed to the image of the Son unless you are 598 00:28:05,770 --> 00:28:09,730 a child of God, unless you are those who have known God and that 599 00:28:09,730 --> 00:28:10,650 he has known us. 600 00:28:11,530 --> 00:28:14,090 And so I want you to think about what it means for us as Christians 601 00:28:14,090 --> 00:28:17,130 to be conformed, to be molded into the image of Christ. 602 00:28:18,490 --> 00:28:20,850 You know, one of the things that I think about within my own 603 00:28:20,850 --> 00:28:22,050 life is, would this. 604 00:28:22,050 --> 00:28:24,490 You know, there was those bracelets a while ago that got really 605 00:28:24,490 --> 00:28:29,230 famous and they made a resurgence WWJD and what would Jesus 606 00:28:29,230 --> 00:28:29,550 do? 607 00:28:30,110 --> 00:28:33,350 And as much as it became a cultural fashion statement, I do 608 00:28:33,350 --> 00:28:34,990 believe that there's a good message there. 609 00:28:35,230 --> 00:28:38,350 Like, if I'm doing this, is this something that reflects the 610 00:28:38,350 --> 00:28:40,030 character of Jesus Christ? 611 00:28:40,750 --> 00:28:43,790 Is this something that brings glory and honor to Jesus Christ? 612 00:28:44,190 --> 00:28:47,670 Is this something that furthers the message of the gospel 613 00:28:47,670 --> 00:28:49,630 of Jesus Christ to those around me? 614 00:28:50,110 --> 00:28:52,070 You know, I get a lot of questions sometimes like, well, is 615 00:28:52,070 --> 00:28:52,350 this. 616 00:28:52,640 --> 00:28:54,400 Is this okay for me to do as a Christian? 617 00:28:55,040 --> 00:28:56,080 Is this okay for me? 618 00:28:56,080 --> 00:28:56,320 And. 619 00:28:56,320 --> 00:28:59,120 And we always want to get as close to the line as we can, right? 620 00:28:59,440 --> 00:29:03,280 How much can I do without going over the line and becoming 621 00:29:03,280 --> 00:29:04,960 really bad and getting condemned? 622 00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:08,519 Well, the Bible teaches us very clearly that there are things 623 00:29:08,519 --> 00:29:11,840 that we can do that aren't necessarily open and open rebellion 624 00:29:11,840 --> 00:29:12,400 and sin. 625 00:29:12,800 --> 00:29:15,880 But the Bible says, Paul says all things are lawful, but not all 626 00:29:15,880 --> 00:29:17,680 things are expedient or good for me. 627 00:29:19,290 --> 00:29:20,250 Beneficial for me. 628 00:29:21,210 --> 00:29:23,530 So what I would say is this, in the Christlike path. 629 00:29:23,530 --> 00:29:24,010 Yes. 630 00:29:24,010 --> 00:29:28,050 Can Christians go do certain things and get away with it? 631 00:29:28,050 --> 00:29:28,370 Sure. 632 00:29:28,370 --> 00:29:28,690 Yeah. 633 00:29:28,690 --> 00:29:31,610 We know that, biblically speaking, we're forgiven, and that's 634 00:29:31,610 --> 00:29:32,570 the blessing of God. 635 00:29:33,210 --> 00:29:35,610 But the true test is not, can I do this? 636 00:29:35,610 --> 00:29:36,970 But should I do this? 637 00:29:36,970 --> 00:29:39,210 And why do I want to do this? 638 00:29:39,690 --> 00:29:41,610 Why do I want to get so close to the line? 639 00:29:41,610 --> 00:29:43,890 Well, I want to get close to the line because I want to have a 640 00:29:43,890 --> 00:29:44,370 lot of freedom. 641 00:29:44,370 --> 00:29:45,410 I want to have a lot of joy. 642 00:29:45,410 --> 00:29:46,565 I want to have a lot of passion. 643 00:29:46,565 --> 00:29:46,720 I. 644 00:29:46,790 --> 00:29:47,910 Well, the question would be this. 645 00:29:47,910 --> 00:29:49,950 Why am I not getting joy in the things of God? 646 00:29:49,950 --> 00:29:53,030 Why do I need to go to the things of the world to give me joy? 647 00:29:53,910 --> 00:29:56,470 Because again, I'm living in a way that is not conformed to the 648 00:29:56,470 --> 00:29:57,110 image of Christ. 649 00:29:57,590 --> 00:30:00,070 I go back a little bit further and think about this when. 650 00:30:00,070 --> 00:30:00,470 When we. 651 00:30:00,470 --> 00:30:04,670 When we think about our motives, because sometimes we can 652 00:30:04,670 --> 00:30:05,830 actually do the right thing. 653 00:30:05,910 --> 00:30:09,070 First Corinthians, chapter three tells us that the good works, 654 00:30:09,070 --> 00:30:11,910 the works that we do for God are going to be judged one day. 655 00:30:11,990 --> 00:30:13,520 There's to be judged by the fire. 656 00:30:13,840 --> 00:30:16,800 And the Bible says the things that we do with the right motives 657 00:30:17,920 --> 00:30:22,000 will come out like precious stones and gold and silver, but the 658 00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:24,120 things that we do for the wrong motives will be like wood, 659 00:30:24,120 --> 00:30:25,760 hand stubble, and be caught up in the fire. 660 00:30:27,360 --> 00:30:30,600 So to be Christlike is not just doing the right things that 661 00:30:30,600 --> 00:30:33,040 people see, even though that would Be part of it. 662 00:30:33,120 --> 00:30:36,320 But being Christlike is doing the right things with the right motives 663 00:30:36,400 --> 00:30:37,520 and the right heart. 664 00:30:38,710 --> 00:30:41,030 Not giving things to people, hoping that they'll give it back, 665 00:30:41,190 --> 00:30:43,430 not loving somebody else, because I hope that they love me 666 00:30:43,430 --> 00:30:43,750 back. 667 00:30:44,470 --> 00:30:47,190 We come to the Christmas season, and certainly there's a biblical 668 00:30:47,190 --> 00:30:50,390 passage in the Book of Acts that says it is better to give than 669 00:30:50,390 --> 00:30:50,830 receive. 670 00:30:50,830 --> 00:30:52,150 And I do believe that. 671 00:30:52,550 --> 00:30:56,990 But sometimes we give gifts to people in hopes that it will, like 672 00:30:56,990 --> 00:30:59,990 some type of karma, that if I give gifts to people, they'll give 673 00:30:59,990 --> 00:31:00,870 gifts back to me. 674 00:31:01,270 --> 00:31:03,350 And the Bible does speak of sowing and reaping. 675 00:31:03,880 --> 00:31:04,040 So. 676 00:31:04,040 --> 00:31:08,080 So if we sow good things, God will give us good things back, but 677 00:31:08,080 --> 00:31:10,920 at the same time, it might not be the way that we expect it to be. 678 00:31:12,200 --> 00:31:13,720 You know, I used to think that if I give. 679 00:31:13,720 --> 00:31:16,280 If I give $20 to the church, God's gonna, some way throughout 680 00:31:16,280 --> 00:31:17,160 the week, give me $20. 681 00:31:17,480 --> 00:31:19,480 Well, he might, but he might not. 682 00:31:20,120 --> 00:31:21,640 Because it's God's plan. 683 00:31:21,800 --> 00:31:22,640 It's God's purpose. 684 00:31:22,640 --> 00:31:25,880 And so we sow certainly good things, and certainly good things 685 00:31:25,880 --> 00:31:26,600 will come back. 686 00:31:26,680 --> 00:31:29,360 But God blesses us, maybe in ways that we don't expect. 687 00:31:29,360 --> 00:31:30,840 Going Back to Romans 8, 28. 688 00:31:31,010 --> 00:31:32,770 And we know all things work together for good. 689 00:31:33,330 --> 00:31:35,130 Well, again, it's not my interpretation of good. 690 00:31:35,130 --> 00:31:36,490 It's not my expectations of good. 691 00:31:36,490 --> 00:31:38,250 It's the expectations of God. 692 00:31:38,250 --> 00:31:38,490 It's. 693 00:31:38,490 --> 00:31:39,810 It's the purpose of God. 694 00:31:40,290 --> 00:31:41,890 So let's move a little bit further here. 695 00:31:41,890 --> 00:31:42,610 Verse 20. 696 00:31:42,770 --> 00:31:45,370 Moreover, whom he did predestinate, he's talking about 697 00:31:45,370 --> 00:31:48,250 that group of believers, those ones that he predestinated to be 698 00:31:48,250 --> 00:31:49,570 conformed into his image. 699 00:31:49,970 --> 00:31:53,410 Now, some people call this the golden chain of salvation. 700 00:31:53,970 --> 00:31:55,930 And, like, you don't have a choice in this. 701 00:31:55,930 --> 00:31:57,250 This is ultimately God's work. 702 00:31:57,250 --> 00:31:59,410 And I do believe this is ultimately God's work. 703 00:32:00,260 --> 00:32:03,620 But I do believe that we as believers have the responsibility 704 00:32:03,780 --> 00:32:07,140 to respond to the call of God in our life. 705 00:32:08,260 --> 00:32:11,620 There are some that say there is no responsibility on you because 706 00:32:11,860 --> 00:32:13,300 it is forced upon you. 707 00:32:13,780 --> 00:32:15,940 It is by God's ultimate power. 708 00:32:16,260 --> 00:32:18,820 Now, I believe that we don't save ourselves. 709 00:32:19,140 --> 00:32:19,700 There's something. 710 00:32:19,700 --> 00:32:22,340 And I don't want to get you guys too far down a rabbit trail, 711 00:32:22,980 --> 00:32:27,030 but there is something called Pelagianism, which basically teaches 712 00:32:27,030 --> 00:32:31,110 that I find God like God's up there in the clouds, and I just want 713 00:32:31,110 --> 00:32:31,550 to get. 714 00:32:31,550 --> 00:32:35,390 I. I'm so good that I have cleaned up my life so much that I 715 00:32:35,390 --> 00:32:36,110 find God. 716 00:32:36,590 --> 00:32:37,550 That's not what it is. 717 00:32:37,550 --> 00:32:41,150 We can't save ourselves we know that God searches after us. 718 00:32:41,150 --> 00:32:42,110 God's chasing us. 719 00:32:42,110 --> 00:32:43,310 God pursues us. 720 00:32:43,950 --> 00:32:46,670 But at the same time, the Bible speaks of many occasions where 721 00:32:46,670 --> 00:32:50,830 people can reject God, and there's that decision to follow God. 722 00:32:50,830 --> 00:32:54,160 And so therefore we have a human responsibility to, to respond 723 00:32:54,160 --> 00:32:55,200 to the call of God. 724 00:32:55,200 --> 00:32:56,320 But let me be clear. 725 00:32:56,400 --> 00:32:58,840 Verse number 30 is completely a work of God. 726 00:32:58,840 --> 00:33:00,160 We cannot save ourselves. 727 00:33:00,400 --> 00:33:03,840 We cannot call ourselves, we cannot glorify ourselves. 728 00:33:04,000 --> 00:33:08,160 The Bible says here in verse 30 that those that he predestinated 729 00:33:08,720 --> 00:33:10,000 them he also called. 730 00:33:11,120 --> 00:33:15,360 So those that are part of the process of conformity to Christ have 731 00:33:15,360 --> 00:33:16,000 a calling. 732 00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:16,960 What's our calling? 733 00:33:17,520 --> 00:33:21,200 Well, some of us could go to Matthew chapter 28 and quote the 734 00:33:21,200 --> 00:33:21,760 Great Commission. 735 00:33:22,080 --> 00:33:26,680 We have a calling of God to present the kingdom of God, the gospel 736 00:33:26,680 --> 00:33:28,720 of God, to those in this world. 737 00:33:28,960 --> 00:33:31,280 Go and preach the gospel to every creature. 738 00:33:31,520 --> 00:33:31,840 To. 739 00:33:31,840 --> 00:33:33,760 To go into the world and be the light. 740 00:33:34,160 --> 00:33:35,840 You are called to do that. 741 00:33:35,840 --> 00:33:38,840 Now, some people's call might be different than others, like I 742 00:33:38,840 --> 00:33:39,360 mentioned before. 743 00:33:39,520 --> 00:33:42,920 Well, was it God's purpose for me to live in California or Florida 744 00:33:42,920 --> 00:33:44,920 or, or, or for Texas to Maine? 745 00:33:44,920 --> 00:33:45,440 I don't know. 746 00:33:46,360 --> 00:33:49,000 That's something that you and God have to work out through circumstance 747 00:33:49,000 --> 00:33:50,040 and through his guidance. 748 00:33:50,200 --> 00:33:52,200 But I'm going to tell you, there's people in California that 749 00:33:52,200 --> 00:33:54,680 are called by God to preach the message of the gospel. 750 00:33:54,680 --> 00:33:56,360 There's people in Texas that are called. 751 00:33:56,360 --> 00:33:57,960 There's people in Delaware that are called. 752 00:33:58,120 --> 00:34:00,960 Wherever you're at, that's where your calling is and where God 753 00:34:00,960 --> 00:34:01,560 leads you. 754 00:34:02,120 --> 00:34:03,080 He's going to be there. 755 00:34:03,320 --> 00:34:06,120 And the truth is that as Christians, sometimes we get so stuck 756 00:34:06,120 --> 00:34:10,280 in the minutiae of life that we forget that the bigger calling, 757 00:34:10,760 --> 00:34:13,960 the greatest calling, is to proclaim Jesus to those around us, 758 00:34:14,850 --> 00:34:18,690 wherever we are, whatever stage of life that we're in. 759 00:34:19,330 --> 00:34:21,410 But different people are called in different ways. 760 00:34:21,410 --> 00:34:24,530 Ultimately, the call is to proclaim Jesus Christ. 761 00:34:25,330 --> 00:34:27,210 Some are called to do it behind a pulpit. 762 00:34:27,210 --> 00:34:28,810 Others are called to do it in the workplace. 763 00:34:28,810 --> 00:34:30,170 Others are called to do it in their home. 764 00:34:30,170 --> 00:34:31,730 All of us are called to do it in our home. 765 00:34:31,890 --> 00:34:35,610 Some of us are called to do it through an avenue of a hobby. 766 00:34:35,610 --> 00:34:38,210 Some of us are called to do an avenue through a service project. 767 00:34:38,450 --> 00:34:41,530 But whatever it is, God, it's a calling on our life to proclaim 768 00:34:41,530 --> 00:34:43,220 the gospel to those around us. 769 00:34:43,220 --> 00:34:45,180 And so there's the call to glorify God. 770 00:34:45,180 --> 00:34:46,700 There's a call to praise God. 771 00:34:46,700 --> 00:34:49,180 There's a call to proclaim him to those around us. 772 00:34:49,180 --> 00:34:52,500 And so he says, those that are predestinated to be conformed into 773 00:34:52,500 --> 00:34:56,380 the image of Christ will proclaim the calling in their life. 774 00:34:56,380 --> 00:34:59,140 All of you have a calling if you're a believer in Jesus Christ 775 00:34:59,140 --> 00:34:59,620 this morning. 776 00:35:00,100 --> 00:35:03,020 Okay, I don't need to be prophetic to know that you have a 777 00:35:03,020 --> 00:35:03,860 calling in your life. 778 00:35:03,860 --> 00:35:05,540 Now, I might not know what that calling is. 779 00:35:07,380 --> 00:35:09,700 But the truth is, is that all of us have to get to a place in our 780 00:35:09,700 --> 00:35:11,780 life where we understand what that call is for us. 781 00:35:12,260 --> 00:35:15,300 The ultimate outcome of that would be proclamation of the Gospel. 782 00:35:15,380 --> 00:35:16,420 But how do I get there? 783 00:35:16,420 --> 00:35:19,180 Well, the Bible says that all of us have a calling, and whom he 784 00:35:19,180 --> 00:35:21,780 called them, he also justified. 785 00:35:21,780 --> 00:35:26,660 Again, this is speaking to the place of proclamation of the gospel. 786 00:35:26,900 --> 00:35:28,740 Justified, proclaimed, righteous. 787 00:35:29,300 --> 00:35:32,420 And whom he justified, them he also glorified. 788 00:35:32,900 --> 00:35:33,780 Meaning this. 789 00:35:33,940 --> 00:35:36,540 One day, those that are justified here on this earth will 790 00:35:36,540 --> 00:35:38,580 be reunited with their Savior. 791 00:35:39,950 --> 00:35:42,390 And so this is one way to see this passage of scripture. 792 00:35:42,390 --> 00:35:45,350 There are many people that seem this passage of scripture, and 793 00:35:45,350 --> 00:35:48,950 they say, oh, this is speaking specifically to those elect that 794 00:35:48,950 --> 00:35:52,510 he has called, and that's the only group that can be saved. 795 00:35:52,510 --> 00:35:55,230 And then there's some people over here that God wanted to go to 796 00:35:55,230 --> 00:35:55,550 hell. 797 00:35:56,110 --> 00:35:59,630 And I believe that contradicts where it says that he has. 798 00:35:59,790 --> 00:36:01,470 He wants all to come to repentance. 799 00:36:01,470 --> 00:36:04,590 There's many other passages of scripture that I believe that he 800 00:36:04,590 --> 00:36:06,510 would proclaim something different there. 801 00:36:06,760 --> 00:36:06,880 But. 802 00:36:06,880 --> 00:36:09,400 But I do want you to understand that as a believer this 803 00:36:09,400 --> 00:36:13,240 morning, all of us have the hope of glorification one day. 804 00:36:13,560 --> 00:36:16,200 All of us have the confidence in our justification. 805 00:36:16,280 --> 00:36:18,680 Again, that word, justification means to be declared 806 00:36:19,000 --> 00:36:19,560 righteous. 807 00:36:20,920 --> 00:36:24,120 Now, how many of us, if we were honest with ourselves here this 808 00:36:24,120 --> 00:36:29,000 morning, would say that I deserve to be declared righteous? 809 00:36:29,720 --> 00:36:30,680 Well, I'm a good person. 810 00:36:32,210 --> 00:36:33,650 I've done a lot of good works in my life. 811 00:36:34,290 --> 00:36:35,330 I'm a church member. 812 00:36:36,370 --> 00:36:38,970 Whatever it is, we have all of our justifications of what makes 813 00:36:38,970 --> 00:36:39,730 us a good person. 814 00:36:40,850 --> 00:36:43,650 But the Bible, again and again, this isn't popular. 815 00:36:43,650 --> 00:36:46,610 This isn't something that makes us warm and fuzzy inside. 816 00:36:46,690 --> 00:36:48,290 But again, what did the Bible say? 817 00:36:48,690 --> 00:36:49,650 There is none good. 818 00:36:49,650 --> 00:36:50,450 No, not one. 819 00:36:51,570 --> 00:36:53,730 We are in desperate need of Jesus Christ. 820 00:36:54,290 --> 00:36:58,900 We cannot be more like him without his powerful guidance in 821 00:36:58,900 --> 00:36:59,340 our life. 822 00:37:00,220 --> 00:37:01,260 So what I would say is this. 823 00:37:01,260 --> 00:37:03,340 It's not about trying to be a good person. 824 00:37:03,580 --> 00:37:05,860 I've heard a lot of people say, well, Pastor, I'm just trying 825 00:37:05,860 --> 00:37:07,260 to be a good person in this world. 826 00:37:07,980 --> 00:37:10,060 I. I understand what we mean by that. 827 00:37:10,380 --> 00:37:11,100 Okay, so. 828 00:37:11,100 --> 00:37:11,980 So I'm not judging you. 829 00:37:11,980 --> 00:37:13,420 If you've said that I've said that. 830 00:37:14,380 --> 00:37:16,540 But it's not about trying to be a good person. 831 00:37:16,540 --> 00:37:17,900 It's trying to be more like Christ. 832 00:37:18,780 --> 00:37:19,820 I want to be like Christ. 833 00:37:21,100 --> 00:37:22,460 I want to die to my flesh. 834 00:37:23,670 --> 00:37:25,270 I'm never going to be perfectly good. 835 00:37:25,270 --> 00:37:26,870 I'm never going to be perfectly holy. 836 00:37:26,950 --> 00:37:29,590 Because it's easy for us to look at our society around us and 837 00:37:29,590 --> 00:37:30,870 say, well, we're pretty good people. 838 00:37:31,350 --> 00:37:34,150 We're not for this, we're not for this, we're not for this. 839 00:37:34,230 --> 00:37:34,950 So we're good. 840 00:37:35,670 --> 00:37:39,830 Well, you might be better than the person next to you in your neighborhood. 841 00:37:39,830 --> 00:37:41,430 But again, what's the final standard? 842 00:37:41,830 --> 00:37:43,990 The final standard of goodness is Jesus Christ. 843 00:37:44,950 --> 00:37:46,870 And so we say, I want to be more like Him. 844 00:37:47,270 --> 00:37:48,550 I want to be more like Him. 845 00:37:49,600 --> 00:37:50,760 And how do we be more like Him? 846 00:37:50,760 --> 00:37:53,040 Well, the Bible speaks in many occasions of what that means, but 847 00:37:53,040 --> 00:37:55,360 ultimately it starts with faith in Him. 848 00:37:56,720 --> 00:38:02,920 It starts with trusting in his way and his work in our life to get 849 00:38:02,920 --> 00:38:07,400 to a place to be more like him and to reach more people, to be a 850 00:38:07,400 --> 00:38:08,000 disciple. 851 00:38:09,520 --> 00:38:11,360 So there's, there's belief in God. 852 00:38:12,880 --> 00:38:15,990 There'S faith in God, there's faith in his work. 853 00:38:16,310 --> 00:38:20,190 But the Bible says that In John, chapter 8, verse 31, if you 854 00:38:20,190 --> 00:38:23,350 are my disciples, you will continue in My word. 855 00:38:23,910 --> 00:38:25,670 Okay, meaning this. 856 00:38:26,470 --> 00:38:31,030 If we want to be more like Christ, we continue in his word. 857 00:38:31,030 --> 00:38:33,030 We continue in obedience. 858 00:38:34,150 --> 00:38:37,190 My children can say to me all day, dad, I love you, dad. 859 00:38:37,190 --> 00:38:38,350 Dad, I, I, I. 860 00:38:38,350 --> 00:38:38,830 Thank you. 861 00:38:38,830 --> 00:38:39,150 I want. 862 00:38:39,150 --> 00:38:41,620 And maybe it's December and they want Christmas gifts. 863 00:38:42,100 --> 00:38:43,700 That might be what it is, I don't know. 864 00:38:44,100 --> 00:38:45,420 But they could say they love me. 865 00:38:45,420 --> 00:38:47,740 But really, what's the true test of whether or not they love 866 00:38:47,740 --> 00:38:47,900 me? 867 00:38:47,900 --> 00:38:50,420 The true test is, do they obey? 868 00:38:51,540 --> 00:38:55,380 The true test is, do they submit to the authority at hand? 869 00:38:56,900 --> 00:38:58,980 Dad, I love you, but I don't want to go to bed on time. 870 00:38:59,540 --> 00:39:01,460 Dad, I love you, but I don't want to wake up in the morning. 871 00:39:01,940 --> 00:39:03,300 Your ways aren't the right way. 872 00:39:03,380 --> 00:39:03,740 So. 873 00:39:03,740 --> 00:39:05,700 So, for it's all the children here today. 874 00:39:05,700 --> 00:39:09,000 The way that we show that we love our parents, the way that we 875 00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:13,120 show that we love God, all of us adults is by obedience to him, 876 00:39:13,840 --> 00:39:16,640 submitting our desires over to his desires. 877 00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:19,200 So for a child. 878 00:39:21,200 --> 00:39:22,160 Okay, I'll go to bed. 879 00:39:22,160 --> 00:39:23,200 Even though I don't want to go to bed. 880 00:39:23,200 --> 00:39:24,880 Because why my Father wants me to. 881 00:39:25,600 --> 00:39:26,480 Because he loves me. 882 00:39:26,480 --> 00:39:27,360 And I know what's best. 883 00:39:27,440 --> 00:39:28,400 He knows what's best. 884 00:39:29,840 --> 00:39:31,640 The same thing with our Heavenly Father. 885 00:39:31,640 --> 00:39:33,040 For us as adults. 886 00:39:33,770 --> 00:39:34,530 God says, do this. 887 00:39:34,530 --> 00:39:36,090 And we go, no but you don't understand. 888 00:39:36,730 --> 00:39:37,610 I can't do that. 889 00:39:37,610 --> 00:39:38,250 I don't want that. 890 00:39:38,250 --> 00:39:39,210 That's not good for me. 891 00:39:39,210 --> 00:39:42,410 We trust in him and say, lord, that's what we believe. 892 00:39:42,570 --> 00:39:46,730 That you are good, that you care for me, that you want what's 893 00:39:46,730 --> 00:39:47,370 best for me. 894 00:39:47,770 --> 00:39:49,130 That you know all things. 895 00:39:49,450 --> 00:39:51,290 And it's faith in believing that. 896 00:39:51,370 --> 00:39:52,970 So really, the true test is faith. 897 00:39:53,130 --> 00:39:57,850 The true test is whether or not I'm able to believe that God 898 00:39:57,850 --> 00:39:59,570 is who I say he is. 899 00:39:59,570 --> 00:40:01,500 And believe if God. 900 00:40:01,500 --> 00:40:04,420 If God says that he is this, that I believe that he is true. 901 00:40:05,860 --> 00:40:08,700 And I want you to think about that here this morning. 902 00:40:08,700 --> 00:40:10,740 When it comes to the way that we live our lives. 903 00:40:14,340 --> 00:40:16,420 I struggle sometimes with trust. 904 00:40:17,780 --> 00:40:21,380 I struggle sometimes with the idea that maybe this situation in 905 00:40:21,380 --> 00:40:23,580 my life proves that God doesn't love me. 906 00:40:23,580 --> 00:40:26,260 But at the end of the day, I have to go to the bigger picture 907 00:40:26,260 --> 00:40:27,190 and say, yes. 908 00:40:27,190 --> 00:40:28,230 Romans 8:28. 909 00:40:28,310 --> 00:40:31,430 And we know that all things work together for good to them that 910 00:40:31,430 --> 00:40:34,830 love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 911 00:40:34,830 --> 00:40:36,950 I would encourage you to have that verse memorized. 912 00:40:39,030 --> 00:40:44,430 I would encourage you to think about that verse in the good and 913 00:40:44,430 --> 00:40:45,670 in sometimes in the bad. 914 00:40:46,550 --> 00:40:51,070 I want you to think about the times in your life where it's easy 915 00:40:51,070 --> 00:40:51,790 to praise God. 916 00:40:51,790 --> 00:40:53,950 And I want you to think in times of your life when it's not 917 00:40:53,950 --> 00:40:55,030 easy to praise God. 918 00:40:55,210 --> 00:40:56,890 And then that's what the Bible is there for. 919 00:40:56,890 --> 00:41:02,970 The Bible is there for us to have a storehouse of wisdom and blessings 920 00:41:03,290 --> 00:41:07,370 when it is difficult, like when we have plenty in our lives. 921 00:41:07,690 --> 00:41:08,730 Think about Joseph. 922 00:41:08,730 --> 00:41:09,690 Remember Joseph? 923 00:41:09,690 --> 00:41:12,730 There was a time where there was this great food all in Egypt, 924 00:41:12,730 --> 00:41:13,530 and everyone was. 925 00:41:13,770 --> 00:41:17,330 But he knew because of God's plan in his life that there would 926 00:41:17,330 --> 00:41:17,930 be a famine. 927 00:41:17,930 --> 00:41:20,850 So we need to have that storehouse of wisdom with us in our 928 00:41:20,850 --> 00:41:21,130 lives. 929 00:41:21,440 --> 00:41:23,640 Because we don't know when that next spiritual famine is going 930 00:41:23,640 --> 00:41:24,000 to come. 931 00:41:24,320 --> 00:41:26,720 We don't know when that next season of trial will come. 932 00:41:27,360 --> 00:41:30,760 And sometimes going to God in the midst of the trial is more difficult 933 00:41:30,760 --> 00:41:33,560 because we don't have that storehouse of blessing in our life 934 00:41:33,560 --> 00:41:34,680 to know that, hey, you know what? 935 00:41:34,680 --> 00:41:36,720 God is there with me through all of this. 936 00:41:37,120 --> 00:41:37,440 That. 937 00:41:37,440 --> 00:41:37,960 That God. 938 00:41:37,960 --> 00:41:39,360 God does love me. 939 00:41:39,520 --> 00:41:40,960 That God does care for me. 940 00:41:40,960 --> 00:41:43,120 And so what I would encourage you to do now, even if you're in 941 00:41:43,120 --> 00:41:46,360 a season of blessing, even if you're in the season of excess and 942 00:41:46,360 --> 00:41:49,850 abundance with spiritual nature, go to him. 943 00:41:49,930 --> 00:41:53,650 Go to the word of God now so that you can have the fuel for the 944 00:41:53,650 --> 00:41:58,250 trials that might come in the future to be prepared for that. 945 00:41:59,770 --> 00:42:03,530 And so to be conformed into the image of his Son means to die 946 00:42:03,530 --> 00:42:08,250 to the desires of this world, to know that he wants all to come 947 00:42:08,250 --> 00:42:08,730 to Him. 948 00:42:09,530 --> 00:42:11,010 First Peter, excuse me. 949 00:42:11,010 --> 00:42:12,650 Second Peter, Chapter three, verse nine. 950 00:42:14,460 --> 00:42:17,580 The Lord is not slack concerning his promises. 951 00:42:18,620 --> 00:42:22,180 He's patient towards us, not willing that any should perish, but 952 00:42:22,180 --> 00:42:24,140 that all should come to repentance. 953 00:42:24,860 --> 00:42:27,740 Because sometimes it's easy to think about God in certain ways. 954 00:42:27,740 --> 00:42:30,220 And we'll talk more about this when we get to Romans chapter 9. 955 00:42:30,540 --> 00:42:31,500 Some of you have. 956 00:42:33,100 --> 00:42:34,380 You know, biblical literacy. 957 00:42:34,380 --> 00:42:36,140 You'll know that Romans chapter 9 is A. 958 00:42:36,140 --> 00:42:38,940 Is a very difficult passage for many to interpret because it 959 00:42:38,940 --> 00:42:41,740 speaks of certain things that seem contradictory to many other 960 00:42:41,740 --> 00:42:43,900 aspects of God and other passages of Scripture. 961 00:42:44,140 --> 00:42:48,100 But again, we have to look at the Bible through the lens of the 962 00:42:48,100 --> 00:42:49,980 whole context of God's character. 963 00:42:50,940 --> 00:42:53,580 And we know that other passages of Scripture will tell us 964 00:42:53,580 --> 00:42:57,140 that God does love all, not love all the same way. 965 00:42:57,140 --> 00:42:59,979 Because by the way, God doesn't love the unsaved person the 966 00:42:59,979 --> 00:43:01,260 same way that he loves his child. 967 00:43:02,140 --> 00:43:03,660 I think that's very clear to understand. 968 00:43:04,780 --> 00:43:06,380 Very, very clear to understand. 969 00:43:06,380 --> 00:43:08,700 A love of a father is unique to his child. 970 00:43:08,860 --> 00:43:10,860 But at the same time, God loves the world. 971 00:43:11,240 --> 00:43:14,720 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. 972 00:43:14,720 --> 00:43:16,920 The gift is extended to all. 973 00:43:17,240 --> 00:43:19,000 And some say, well, God's powerful enough. 974 00:43:19,000 --> 00:43:20,520 Why doesn't he just save everybody? 975 00:43:20,680 --> 00:43:22,600 Because again, it's that matter of choice. 976 00:43:22,680 --> 00:43:24,440 Because with love comes a choice. 977 00:43:25,000 --> 00:43:26,520 I mentioned this last week. 978 00:43:26,760 --> 00:43:29,080 If everyone's forced to do something, is it love? 979 00:43:30,120 --> 00:43:31,640 Well, I would argue that it's not. 980 00:43:32,040 --> 00:43:34,760 I would argue that some people say, well, why is there evil in the 981 00:43:34,760 --> 00:43:34,880 world? 982 00:43:34,880 --> 00:43:37,240 If there's a God, why doesn't he just stop all evil? 983 00:43:37,620 --> 00:43:40,580 Because we would not know good without evil. 984 00:43:41,300 --> 00:43:42,740 Evil is the absence of good. 985 00:43:42,900 --> 00:43:44,500 Darkness is the absence of light. 986 00:43:45,540 --> 00:43:48,340 And so God is not deterministic in that way, even though 987 00:43:48,340 --> 00:43:49,060 he could be. 988 00:43:49,140 --> 00:43:53,339 I believe that God has allowed us, because of his love for us, to 989 00:43:53,339 --> 00:43:55,060 make the decision to love Him. 990 00:43:55,140 --> 00:43:55,460 Right. 991 00:43:55,460 --> 00:43:57,780 God is pursuing a love relationship with us. 992 00:43:58,740 --> 00:44:00,100 But with that comes evil. 993 00:44:00,100 --> 00:44:02,540 With that comes so children, no blessing comes loss. 994 00:44:02,540 --> 00:44:05,470 Like, if we don't have loss, we don't know what blessing is. 995 00:44:05,470 --> 00:44:08,270 We don't know what it means to have something good if we've never 996 00:44:08,270 --> 00:44:08,910 had a loss. 997 00:44:09,230 --> 00:44:12,830 And I think some of us would even understand more that loss and 998 00:44:12,830 --> 00:44:15,750 struggles can actually bring us more of an appreciation for the 999 00:44:15,750 --> 00:44:17,150 good things that we have in our life. 1000 00:44:18,350 --> 00:44:21,230 I Don't know about you, but I never appreciative of my good health 1001 00:44:21,230 --> 00:44:22,830 until my health is taken away from me. 1002 00:44:23,950 --> 00:44:24,350 Right? 1003 00:44:24,910 --> 00:44:27,950 I mean, like when I'm feeling good, I'm just taking it for granted. 1004 00:44:28,840 --> 00:44:31,800 It's when I have a pain in my side of a kidney stone and I'm doubled 1005 00:44:31,800 --> 00:44:34,560 over and I'm going, lord, I'll do anything just to take away this 1006 00:44:34,560 --> 00:44:34,760 pain. 1007 00:44:34,760 --> 00:44:37,720 I'm making every promise that I ever can make because in that moment, 1008 00:44:37,720 --> 00:44:41,400 I understand what I did have in that good health. 1009 00:44:42,120 --> 00:44:45,080 And so for us to understand that there is another side of things 1010 00:44:45,080 --> 00:44:47,080 here is so, so very important. 1011 00:44:48,920 --> 00:44:51,800 We're told to preach the word in season and out of season. 1012 00:44:51,800 --> 00:44:55,720 We're called to worship God in the good and in what we would say 1013 00:44:55,720 --> 00:44:57,360 is not so good circumstances. 1014 00:44:58,400 --> 00:45:01,280 And so I would encourage you to think about that here this morning 1015 00:45:01,280 --> 00:45:03,040 as we conclude. 1016 00:45:03,200 --> 00:45:04,640 I think about this often. 1017 00:45:04,640 --> 00:45:05,360 I think about. 1018 00:45:05,920 --> 00:45:10,000 There was a very prominent Christian figure recently that came 1019 00:45:10,000 --> 00:45:14,000 out with the viewpoint that, you know, there really isn't any 1020 00:45:14,160 --> 00:45:16,240 punishment after death. 1021 00:45:16,560 --> 00:45:19,440 If you're a sinner, this is annihilation. 1022 00:45:19,440 --> 00:45:20,400 God just wipes you out. 1023 00:45:21,770 --> 00:45:25,930 And, and, and I caution us to say that because that, that's, that's 1024 00:45:25,930 --> 00:45:26,810 not biblical. 1025 00:45:27,130 --> 00:45:27,770 Biblical. 1026 00:45:27,770 --> 00:45:31,010 Biblically speaking, there is a place of torment, there is a place 1027 00:45:31,010 --> 00:45:31,770 of punishment. 1028 00:45:32,170 --> 00:45:34,850 And if we don't preach both sides of the coin, if I don't preach, 1029 00:45:34,850 --> 00:45:38,450 if I only preach things about goodness and never preach evil, we 1030 00:45:38,450 --> 00:45:39,010 have a big issue. 1031 00:45:39,010 --> 00:45:41,490 If I only preach heaven and I never preach about the opposite of 1032 00:45:41,490 --> 00:45:43,130 heaven, there's a big issue with that. 1033 00:45:43,210 --> 00:45:43,530 Now. 1034 00:45:43,530 --> 00:45:46,370 Now, if I only preach about hell constantly, there would be a 1035 00:45:46,370 --> 00:45:49,430 problem there because it would be a gross oversimplification of 1036 00:45:49,430 --> 00:45:50,470 the whole story of God. 1037 00:45:50,470 --> 00:45:53,470 But when we preach the whole scope of Scripture, we have to preach 1038 00:45:53,470 --> 00:45:56,430 to people that there's this, there is the blessing of salvation, 1039 00:45:56,430 --> 00:45:58,550 but there is also the punishment of hell. 1040 00:45:58,550 --> 00:46:00,350 There is a punishment of rebellion. 1041 00:46:00,830 --> 00:46:03,790 God has every right to punish every single one of us. 1042 00:46:04,590 --> 00:46:05,710 Every single one of us. 1043 00:46:05,710 --> 00:46:08,910 But the beauty of our Christian faith is that he doesn't. 1044 00:46:08,910 --> 00:46:12,590 He gives us an opportunity to find grace, to find hope. 1045 00:46:13,390 --> 00:46:14,670 Now, the hope isn't him. 1046 00:46:14,930 --> 00:46:16,930 The hope is right here in front of all of us. 1047 00:46:17,010 --> 00:46:18,610 God isn't hiding his word. 1048 00:46:18,930 --> 00:46:20,450 God isn't hiding his work. 1049 00:46:20,530 --> 00:46:22,210 God isn't hiding his miracles. 1050 00:46:22,530 --> 00:46:26,050 And so what we have to think about here is it's not, I found God 1051 00:46:26,210 --> 00:46:28,850 as much as he found me, and I respond to him. 1052 00:46:29,730 --> 00:46:30,770 That's really what it is. 1053 00:46:32,370 --> 00:46:36,610 And so I want you to Think about that when it comes to salvation. 1054 00:46:36,690 --> 00:46:39,970 I might not have changed your opinion of Romans, chapter 8. 1055 00:46:40,700 --> 00:46:44,180 But what I will say is in this passage of Scripture that I do believe 1056 00:46:44,180 --> 00:46:47,740 that it is clear that, yes, God does predestinate us for a specific 1057 00:46:47,740 --> 00:46:48,220 purpose. 1058 00:46:49,100 --> 00:46:50,380 God does call us. 1059 00:46:50,780 --> 00:46:52,180 That call is upon our lives. 1060 00:46:52,180 --> 00:46:53,420 We can't avoid that call. 1061 00:46:53,820 --> 00:46:56,420 We can't avoid these things that we see in Scripture. 1062 00:46:56,420 --> 00:46:59,860 But what we also understand that as Christians, is that we have 1063 00:46:59,860 --> 00:47:04,860 the responsibility to follow him and to take the steps of conformity, 1064 00:47:05,180 --> 00:47:08,780 to be more like Christ so that we can understand fully in this life 1065 00:47:09,120 --> 00:47:12,040 what it means to know justification, what it means to know 1066 00:47:12,040 --> 00:47:15,000 our call, what it means to ultimately hope for the glorification 1067 00:47:15,000 --> 00:47:17,280 that is to come for us in this world. 1068 00:47:18,080 --> 00:47:21,840 And so I want you to meditate upon that here this week as we get 1069 00:47:21,840 --> 00:47:22,960 into the Christmas season. 1070 00:47:23,920 --> 00:47:27,120 There are certainly things that we can think about when it comes 1071 00:47:27,120 --> 00:47:28,520 to Jesus coming to this earth. 1072 00:47:28,520 --> 00:47:32,600 But I want you to see Christmas more than just a good time. 1073 00:47:32,600 --> 00:47:35,970 When Jesus comes as a baby in the manger, even though we are thankful 1074 00:47:35,970 --> 00:47:37,770 for the fact that he came as a baby in the manger. 1075 00:47:37,770 --> 00:47:41,250 And brother Jeff sang that wonderful song today, Born to die. 1076 00:47:41,250 --> 00:47:42,370 God, God's plan. 1077 00:47:42,530 --> 00:47:45,450 He's not limited by space and time, but we know that it was God's 1078 00:47:45,450 --> 00:47:50,130 plan for Jesus to come as a babe, as a, as a child, but didn't. 1079 00:47:50,290 --> 00:47:51,890 But that wasn't the end of the story. 1080 00:47:52,450 --> 00:47:54,090 Story was, is that baby would grow up. 1081 00:47:54,090 --> 00:47:57,250 And the Bible says that he grew in wisdom and stature and favor 1082 00:47:57,250 --> 00:47:58,050 with God and man. 1083 00:47:58,130 --> 00:48:02,630 And Jesus grew and physically and, and some would argue it says 1084 00:48:02,630 --> 00:48:04,150 right there, favor with God and man. 1085 00:48:04,150 --> 00:48:06,190 So he grew in his understanding of his calling. 1086 00:48:06,590 --> 00:48:09,150 And, and there's a lot of questions about when did Jesus understand 1087 00:48:09,230 --> 00:48:09,510 that? 1088 00:48:09,510 --> 00:48:10,750 When did he not understand that? 1089 00:48:10,750 --> 00:48:13,310 I don't want to get into that rabbit trail, but we know that Jesus, 1090 00:48:13,390 --> 00:48:15,950 at the right time, knew exactly what he was supposed to do. 1091 00:48:16,030 --> 00:48:17,350 He had a choice to make. 1092 00:48:17,350 --> 00:48:17,990 He had a choice. 1093 00:48:17,990 --> 00:48:19,230 I. I believe Jesus had a choice. 1094 00:48:19,230 --> 00:48:21,710 But at the end of the day, he obeyed the Father. 1095 00:48:21,710 --> 00:48:24,750 He submitted to the will of the Father and did the work of the 1096 00:48:24,750 --> 00:48:25,030 Father. 1097 00:48:25,030 --> 00:48:27,720 And therefore that comes to us in our life, the same, same principle 1098 00:48:27,720 --> 00:48:28,960 to be Christlike. 1099 00:48:28,960 --> 00:48:32,800 Ultimately, ultimately, okay, if we were to boil everything down 1100 00:48:33,040 --> 00:48:35,480 to one aspect of Jesus, it's. 1101 00:48:35,480 --> 00:48:37,920 He submitted himself to the will of God. 1102 00:48:39,360 --> 00:48:41,760 That's what it means for us to be completely Christlike. 1103 00:48:41,760 --> 00:48:43,120 Will we be perfect in that? 1104 00:48:43,120 --> 00:48:43,440 No. 1105 00:48:43,760 --> 00:48:47,320 But what I will say is that to be more Christlike means to be more 1106 00:48:47,320 --> 00:48:50,160 and more submissive to the will of God and our life. 1107 00:48:50,320 --> 00:48:54,330 If you have a struggle with perceiving the will of God, well, 1108 00:48:54,330 --> 00:48:55,090 how does that work? 1109 00:48:55,090 --> 00:48:57,850 Receiving the will of God starts with indwelling of the Spirit 1110 00:48:58,730 --> 00:49:01,130 and being sensitive to the Spirit's call in your life. 1111 00:49:01,130 --> 00:49:04,530 To be sensitive to the Spirit's conviction in your life, 1112 00:49:04,530 --> 00:49:06,970 to be spent sensitive to the Spirit's comfort in your life. 1113 00:49:07,290 --> 00:49:10,810 But at the same time, it's in agreement with the word of God. 1114 00:49:10,810 --> 00:49:13,170 And to be in agreement with the Word of God. 1115 00:49:13,170 --> 00:49:15,850 I don't think this is a big jump for me to say to be in agreement 1116 00:49:15,850 --> 00:49:16,610 with the word of God. 1117 00:49:16,610 --> 00:49:18,170 We must know the Word of God. 1118 00:49:18,170 --> 00:49:19,850 We must be in the Word of God. 1119 00:49:20,480 --> 00:49:23,320 If I'm ignorant to what the word of God says, I will never be 1120 00:49:23,320 --> 00:49:24,480 able to obey it. 1121 00:49:24,960 --> 00:49:25,960 Some say, well, I just. 1122 00:49:25,960 --> 00:49:26,400 I can't. 1123 00:49:26,400 --> 00:49:27,440 I'm starting too late in life. 1124 00:49:27,440 --> 00:49:28,800 I've got too much in front of me. 1125 00:49:28,800 --> 00:49:32,120 Let me tell you, you can read this book every single day of your 1126 00:49:32,120 --> 00:49:35,080 life and you will still learn and you will. 1127 00:49:35,080 --> 00:49:38,160 You will never reach the bottom of the well, of the wisdom 1128 00:49:38,480 --> 00:49:41,200 and the guidance and the power of this book. 1129 00:49:41,680 --> 00:49:42,560 It's alive. 1130 00:49:43,280 --> 00:49:44,960 So you say, I just started reading the Bible. 1131 00:49:44,960 --> 00:49:46,960 We'll keep reading it and every single day you're going to 1132 00:49:46,960 --> 00:49:47,740 get blessings from it. 1133 00:49:48,450 --> 00:49:49,650 You're going to get teachings from it. 1134 00:49:49,650 --> 00:49:51,570 Well, I've read through it a hundred times. 1135 00:49:51,650 --> 00:49:52,970 We'll read through it 101. 1136 00:49:52,970 --> 00:49:54,890 You're still going to get something out of it, I guarantee 1137 00:49:54,890 --> 00:49:55,170 you. 1138 00:49:55,330 --> 00:49:56,610 That's the beauty of it. 1139 00:49:57,090 --> 00:50:00,050 And so I would encourage you, if you are not in the word of God, 1140 00:50:00,770 --> 00:50:01,890 get in the Word of God. 1141 00:50:01,890 --> 00:50:03,330 You say, well, how much should I read? 1142 00:50:03,410 --> 00:50:03,929 And I. 1143 00:50:03,929 --> 00:50:06,450 And I hate to say this, but it's kind of sarcastic, but it's 1144 00:50:06,450 --> 00:50:07,010 kind of true. 1145 00:50:07,090 --> 00:50:07,490 More. 1146 00:50:08,210 --> 00:50:09,370 I read five minutes a day. 1147 00:50:09,370 --> 00:50:10,690 We'll try to read six minutes a day. 1148 00:50:10,850 --> 00:50:11,850 I read an hour a day. 1149 00:50:11,850 --> 00:50:13,130 Old read two hours a day. 1150 00:50:13,130 --> 00:50:16,790 Whatever, whatever God allows for you to do, put this as a priority 1151 00:50:16,790 --> 00:50:17,510 in your life. 1152 00:50:17,670 --> 00:50:20,070 Because this allows us to know the heart of God. 1153 00:50:20,070 --> 00:50:23,350 This allows us to allow the Spirit to speak to us. 1154 00:50:23,350 --> 00:50:26,630 And therefore we grow and we learn and we become more and more 1155 00:50:26,630 --> 00:50:27,430 Christlike. 1156 00:50:29,190 --> 00:50:34,230 I don't know about you, but when I feel the flesh rearing itself 1157 00:50:34,230 --> 00:50:37,470 in my life, let's say, for example, for me, you know what? 1158 00:50:37,470 --> 00:50:40,150 You know what happens to me when the flesh comes up? 1159 00:50:41,440 --> 00:50:46,160 I feel this warmth and this heat and this anger and I want to 1160 00:50:46,480 --> 00:50:47,760 make it my way. 1161 00:50:47,760 --> 00:50:48,000 Right? 1162 00:50:48,000 --> 00:50:48,320 Okay. 1163 00:50:48,320 --> 00:50:50,640 So someone says something against me, I want to do everything 1164 00:50:50,640 --> 00:50:52,800 that I possibly can to make that person feel this small. 1165 00:50:53,120 --> 00:50:54,000 That's my flesh. 1166 00:50:54,240 --> 00:50:56,640 Some of you are acting really spiritual and say, I've never tried 1167 00:50:56,640 --> 00:50:57,200 to do that before. 1168 00:50:57,360 --> 00:50:58,240 Well, you've got another. 1169 00:50:58,240 --> 00:50:59,240 You've got other issues, too. 1170 00:50:59,240 --> 00:51:00,320 We all have special issues. 1171 00:51:00,480 --> 00:51:05,000 But when you feel that coming, when you perceive that happening 1172 00:51:05,000 --> 00:51:10,100 in your life, the Bible says to die to that and ask God to give 1173 00:51:10,100 --> 00:51:13,060 you wisdom and patience and strength and do what Christ would 1174 00:51:13,060 --> 00:51:13,980 do in that situation. 1175 00:51:15,500 --> 00:51:18,780 Sometimes it's not what we want, but I would encourage you to 1176 00:51:18,780 --> 00:51:21,500 pray about that and ask God to give you the wisdom and strength 1177 00:51:21,580 --> 00:51:24,540 to do what he has called you to do in your life. 1178 00:51:25,180 --> 00:51:27,940 Well, I'm going to ask everyone to stand with me, every 1179 00:51:27,940 --> 00:51:29,900 head bowed, every eye closed as the music plays. 1180 00:51:29,900 --> 00:51:31,980 We're going to have a time of invitation. 1181 00:51:33,350 --> 00:51:37,510 And the invitation, as always, will be starting with salvation. 1182 00:51:39,350 --> 00:51:41,670 You cannot be conformed to the image of Christ. 1183 00:51:41,670 --> 00:51:43,710 You cannot claim that you are justified. 1184 00:51:43,710 --> 00:51:47,270 You cannot claim glorification without having a relationship with 1185 00:51:47,270 --> 00:51:48,390 Christ in faith. 1186 00:51:48,950 --> 00:51:50,470 So I would challenge you here this morning. 1187 00:51:51,030 --> 00:51:52,550 Where is your faith placed? 1188 00:51:53,590 --> 00:51:55,550 Is it placed in the church? 1189 00:51:55,550 --> 00:51:57,070 Is it placed in your works? 1190 00:51:57,070 --> 00:52:01,040 Is it placed in anything outside of the person and work of 1191 00:52:01,040 --> 00:52:01,720 Jesus Christ? 1192 00:52:02,200 --> 00:52:03,160 If it is. 1193 00:52:04,680 --> 00:52:07,400 The Bible says that today can be the day of salvation. 1194 00:52:07,480 --> 00:52:09,240 To put your faith in Jesus. 1195 00:52:10,760 --> 00:52:13,960 Put your faith in the work that he performed on the cross, by 1196 00:52:13,960 --> 00:52:18,720 paying the debt for your sins and by conquering death through the 1197 00:52:18,720 --> 00:52:22,040 resurrection so that you might have life. 1198 00:52:23,240 --> 00:52:24,640 That's where we put our faith. 1199 00:52:24,640 --> 00:52:30,250 It's a simple proclamation of faith in the person and work of Jesus 1200 00:52:30,250 --> 00:52:30,490 Christ. 1201 00:52:30,490 --> 00:52:34,330 The Bible says to repent, to turn away from our old ways, to turn 1202 00:52:34,330 --> 00:52:37,210 away from our old standards and say, I'm turning to Christ. 1203 00:52:38,250 --> 00:52:39,930 That's something that you need this morning. 1204 00:52:40,410 --> 00:52:41,290 Turn to him. 1205 00:52:42,170 --> 00:52:43,370 Come to him in faith. 1206 00:52:43,930 --> 00:52:48,450 It'd be the greatest decision that you could ever make, because 1207 00:52:48,450 --> 00:52:49,610 now you're part of a family. 1208 00:52:50,650 --> 00:52:52,010 You're part of the family of God. 1209 00:52:52,010 --> 00:52:54,550 You now have a call, you now have a purpose. 1210 00:52:54,630 --> 00:52:56,470 You now have righteousness. 1211 00:52:56,550 --> 00:52:58,790 You now have hope in the eternal. 1212 00:52:59,750 --> 00:53:02,390 But if you're the believer today, if you said, I believe, it 1213 00:53:02,390 --> 00:53:05,350 might have been a while ago, it might have been recently. 1214 00:53:05,510 --> 00:53:09,950 But at the same time, all of us sometimes can be tempted in our 1215 00:53:09,950 --> 00:53:14,630 life to drift away from the call that God has for us, to forget 1216 00:53:14,790 --> 00:53:18,430 that he has a purpose for us and that as he has the purpose for 1217 00:53:18,430 --> 00:53:19,750 us, he's with us through it. 1218 00:53:20,480 --> 00:53:21,080 Well, that's. 1219 00:53:21,080 --> 00:53:24,320 That's what Romans 8:31 and the rest of the chapter is all about. 1220 00:53:24,640 --> 00:53:26,880 That he will never leave us nor forsake us. 1221 00:53:26,880 --> 00:53:29,200 That nothing can separate us from the love of God. 1222 00:53:29,280 --> 00:53:32,080 And sometimes we're doubting whether or not God is working his 1223 00:53:32,080 --> 00:53:32,880 best for us. 1224 00:53:32,960 --> 00:53:36,280 But I would encourage you to trust in him and to know that as 1225 00:53:36,280 --> 00:53:38,920 he has given you that purpose in your life, he is going to be there 1226 00:53:38,920 --> 00:53:41,800 with you through it, through the ups and through the downs, through 1227 00:53:41,800 --> 00:53:44,440 the sickness and through the health, through the filling and through 1228 00:53:44,440 --> 00:53:45,040 the emptiness. 1229 00:53:45,200 --> 00:53:49,610 He is there with you so that you can know that he loves you. 1230 00:53:49,610 --> 00:53:51,530 And that's the confirmation of the Spirit. 1231 00:53:52,090 --> 00:53:54,370 And so if you're here this morning, you're a believer. 1232 00:53:54,370 --> 00:53:56,890 But you've been struggling with your purpose, you've been struggling 1233 00:53:56,890 --> 00:53:59,290 with direction, you've been struggling with hope. 1234 00:53:59,530 --> 00:54:04,010 Go back to what you know, that he loves you and that he never forsakes 1235 00:54:04,010 --> 00:54:05,050 those that he is. 1236 00:54:05,930 --> 00:54:09,250 He is trusted that we have trusted in him and given us grace. 1237 00:54:09,250 --> 00:54:12,290 And so here this morning, if you need that revitalization in your 1238 00:54:12,290 --> 00:54:18,290 life, that reminder of the call that, that revitalization of 1239 00:54:18,530 --> 00:54:22,330 the Spirit, I pray that here today you can find that in him and 1240 00:54:22,330 --> 00:54:25,890 him alone, to be Christ like that's our standard, the only standard 1241 00:54:25,890 --> 00:54:26,450 is Christ. 1242 00:54:27,250 --> 00:54:30,410 And to be Christlike means to need him and desire him more and 1243 00:54:30,410 --> 00:54:31,010 more daily. 1244 00:54:31,650 --> 00:54:34,170 Lord, I pray that you be in this time of invitation, work in 1245 00:54:34,170 --> 00:54:36,250 the hearts and lives of those that are here today. 1246 00:54:36,250 --> 00:54:38,530 I pray that there's someone here today that needs you as Savior, 1247 00:54:38,940 --> 00:54:40,860 that today can be that day of salvation. 1248 00:54:41,100 --> 00:54:42,340 I pray that you work in this time. 1249 00:54:42,340 --> 00:54:43,020 In Jesus name. 1250 00:54:43,020 --> 00:54:43,500 Amen. 1251 00:54:44,300 --> 00:54:46,940 Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church 1252 00:54:46,940 --> 00:54:47,500 podcast. 1253 00:54:47,740 --> 00:54:50,140 I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you. 1254 00:54:50,780 --> 00:54:53,060 If you would like to find out more information about our church 1255 00:54:53,060 --> 00:54:56,540 or this sermon, you can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org 1256 00:54:56,780 --> 00:54:59,340 or find us on Facebook or YouTube. 1257 00:55:00,140 --> 00:55:04,140 You can also email me directly at joshmissaro at Middletown Baptist 1258 00:55:04,140 --> 00:55:08,310 Church church.com if you've enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe 1259 00:55:08,310 --> 00:55:11,830 and follow along for future podcast and updates. 1260 00:55:12,470 --> 00:55:13,430 Thank you so much. 1261 00:55:13,670 --> 00:55:14,390 God bless. 1262 00:55:14,630 --> 00:55:15,910 Have a wonderful day.