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Now, here's today's message from Pastor Skip. There was a carpenter who was getting older and he wanted to retire.
So he told his boss that he would be quitting, relaxing with his family. His boss said, well, I'm going to hate to see you go, but would you do me one last favor and build for me one final house?
So the carpenter decided he would go along with his boss. Do him the favor. But his heart wasn't in it, so he used poor workmanship Inferior materials, the work crews weren't the best, and it was a bad way to end a great career. When the house was done, his boss came to him with a set of keys. and said, this house is yours.
You've been such a faithful worker. I want to give you this last house that you have built. Then the builder was shot. And he realized if he had known that he was building his own home, He would have built it so differently. All of us are building our lives.
We do it every day by choices that we make.
Some of us do it well, some of us not so well. We know who the foundation is. The foundation for our lives is the Lord Jesus Christ. We discovered that last week. Paul the Apostle said, No foundation can any man lay than what has already been laid, and that is Christ Himself.
So we discovered. That Peter isn't what the church was built on, but it's Jesus. is what the church was built on. I want to talk to you today about What you attach to your foundation with. Several years ago, we built this house up in the mountains that The builder decided that because the Property had so much rock that was actually the mountain itself, that we really don't need to pour much foundation at all.
He just bolted directly onto the rock itself.
So that those anchor bolts, those footings, those underpinnings were solidly attached to the foundation. I discovered that, according to the Uniform Building Code in America, Holmes didn't have to be bolted to their foundations until 1958. Which is the reason why older homes in places where there are earthquakes or or mudslide zones will even come off the foundation.
So I want to talk to you about those underpinnings. Those things that you build your life and attach to the foundation with, the materials we use to attach to the foundation. We use truths to do that. And what's amazing about Peter? Really is amazing is that.
When he writes his letter to these recipients, Even in his introduction, he immediately immerses them. into some pretty steep Theological truths. just in the first couple of verses. And here's why. What we think about God determines what we think about everything else.
You get him wrong. You get life wrong. And so theology is essential for life. A.W. Tozer said, What a person thinks about God is the most important thing about that person.
So you're going to notice as Peter introduces his letter. That he puts them into some pretty deep theological truths that are important to him and are the underpinnings for the foundation. which is Christ that we attach to. Look at verse 1 and verse 2. Peter and Apostle of Jesus Christ.
to the pilgrims of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia Cappadocia Asia And Bithynia. Elact According to the foreknowledge of God the Father, In sanctification of the Spirit. For obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, grace to you and peace. Be multiplied.
Now, I know there's a lot of crazy-sounding words in these two verses, especially verse two.
So, I want to unpack. This verse for you. And even as we covered all of one verse last week, we'll cover all of verse two this week. Moving right along. Let me give you the four truths introduced by Peter.
These are the underpinnings. of your life, the underpinnings of a rock solid life. Truth number one. We've been chosen Previously, we have been chosen by God previously. That's the first Word in the second verse.
Look at the word: elect.
Now, I know it shows up in verse 2, but I was reading this in the Greek yesterday, and I discovered that it's actually in verse 1 in the Greek language. And in the Greek, it says elect. Pilgrims who are scattered in these areas.
So, Peter is writing to a group of believers who are scattered all over the place over in Asia Minor. Undergoing persecution, as we discovered last week. But Peter wants them to know, and it would bring a tremendous amount of comfort for them suffering persecution to know. You guys have been picked by God. long ago.
I remember when I was in school, I always dreaded when the students would break up into teams. And two of the jocks, the athletic guys, would select people from that group. to be on their teams. I hated that. Because I was like, never picked till the last.
So I'm kind of around, shuffling my feet, and finally there's like two kids left, and one goes, Heitzig.
So great, now I'm on this team. Last pick. Every now and then, there would be a rare exception where I would get picked a little bit earlier on. That's usually because the student was new in school, didn't know any better, didn't know me, was hoping against hope. This guy's tall, he can probably do a lot of things.
But Peter writes and he goes, right away, it's important that you understand. You're elected by God. This truth was to Peter Monumental. And let me explain how it came about, I believe. Peter had made a choice to follow Christ.
But then Jesus comes along one day and he goes, You didn't choose me. I chose you. And I've appointed you. that you would go forth and bring fruit and that your fruit would remain. And I think Peter was like in his head going, what?
I distinctly remember that day in Galilee making a choice to follow this rabbi. And now he's telling me. He has chosen me. That was earth-shattering to him. It rocked his world, it changed his thinking, and it did so much so that at the beginning of a letter that he writes, he wants the audience to know that right up front.
You can have this as the underpinning of your life on the solid foundation that you have been elected by God. He's going to bring it up again in chapter 2. He's going to say, you are a chosen. Generation. A royal priesthood.
Chosen. Elected. It's sort of like if you were driving down the street, guys, and you went past a restaurant in your car. that you've never seen before, and you say to your wife, hey, let's go eat there someday. And then you think, well, let's just go eat there right now.
So you double back, you pull into the parking lot, you get out, you walk into the restaurant. And the waiter sees you and says F Mr. Heitzig, we have been expecting you. I'm going, wow, that's a shock. How is that possible?
The closest I ever came to a situation like that, true story, is when years ago we were first married, my wife and I, and I got a call from a friend of mine who pastors a church in California, and he asked me to come and speak, and I got to choose when I was to come. And I would choose what topic.
So I chose when I would come, and I chose the topic. And I flew out to Los Angeles International Airport. was waiting for him to pick me up. And my wife smiles and says, he's not coming to pick you up. and she pulls out of her purse tickets to Hawaii.
Said it was all a bluff. To get you to decide, make a choice, you're going to go do this and do that, only to discover.
Something else has been chosen for you.
So I chose to go and speak, and what to speak on, only to discover I had been chosen to go to Hawaii. In the Old Testament, the nation of Israel is called God's chosen. Or God's elect, 13 different times. Israel is called the chosen or the elect people of God. You may remember the fiddler on the roof when The main actor, Tabia, looks up to heavens and goes, I know, I know your chosen people, but every once in a while, couldn't you choose someone else?
Because of all the suffering the Jewish people have undergone throughout history. In the New Testament, Christians are called God's elect in Romans and in Colossians. We are called the elect of God. Listen to this. Beautiful articulation by Paul.
This is Romans 8:29. Funny how we stop at Romans 8, 28. Keep reading, it gets better. whom he foreknew He also predestined to be conformed into the image of his son. He chose you in advance.
To undergo a process of changing you to be more and more in your personality and character like Jesus Christ. And then he goes on a couple verses later. Who will bring a charge against God's image? Elect. You have been elected by God.
which always brings up a debate. It has been a debate going on for thousands of years. It's a debate about God's election. and predestination of us. versus our volition, our free will.
And so the question is simply framed. Um Do I choose God? Or did God choose me? Answer? Both are true.
This is Connect with Skip Heitzig Weekend Edition. Before Pastor Skip continues, check out this special resource for your family this Christmas. Here's Nate Heitzig. Teaching my kids about Jesus is one of the greatest privileges of my life. And I wanted to create a book that connects the story of Christmas and Easter in a way that kids, parents, and grandparents will truly cherish.
In Christmas Under the Tree, you and your family can experience God's love seen through a unique perspective. And my hope is that this story becomes a treasured family tradition for years to come. Request your illustrated book and audio experience at connectwithskip.com slash offer with your gift of $25 or more to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Again, that's connectwithskiff.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888. Let's return now to today's message.
You chose God. in harmony with his choice. Of you.
Now, you can argue with that, you can read on that, you can fight back and forth about that. May I suggest to you? that you simply enjoy it. That's the whole point. He didn't write this to these struggling believers so they can worry about it and argue about it and fight and write about it, but they could enjoy the fact that they're on God's team.
that God picked you in advance. When did he pick you? Was it the day when he looked at you and he saw that wonderful character that you have? He said, you are irresistible. I've got to pick you for my team.
You had nothing to do with it because the Bible says he picked you before you were ever around. Ephesians chapter 1, he chose us in him before the foundation of the world. Charles Haddon Spurgeon used to say, It's a good thing God picked me before I was born. He never would have picked me afterwards. Truth is, God picked us.
He chose us. We have been elected. We have been predestined before we were ever born. But then somebody will say, Well, if that's true, then Skip, why do you ask people to choose Christ, to make a decision for Christ, to come forward at an altar call? Here's the reason why.
Because it's your faith. cooperating with his election. It's your faith, your choice, your step. That is cooperating with his election. But I will say, even God gave you the ability to have that faith.
Here's what it's like. A man is drowning. A rope is thrown out to him. That rope alone cannot save that man. That man has to grab a hold of the rope.
Or is this a power? He's gone. He's got to grab a hold of the rope, but even that is not enough. There has to be somebody on the shore throwing the rope. and pulling it in.
So, God by election throws the rope and pulls it in. We, by our volition, our choice, grab a hold of the rope. God always makes the first move. He always makes the first choice. He always takes the initiative, and we respond.
1 John chapter 4, what does it say? We love him because he. First, Loved. Us. Ours is a response to his initiation.
Now, inevitably, somebody hears something like this, and somebody is going to say, well, that's not fair. And I will say, what do you mean that's not fair?
Well I'm not yet a believer. And maybe it's because God didn't pick me.
Well, why aren't you a believer? In fact, why don't you believe right now? Why don't you turn your life over to Christ right now? I'm not ready.
Okay. Then, how can you say it's not fair?
Well, maybe I'm not ready because he hasn't chosen me.
Well, I'll tell you what. Why don't you pray to receive Christ right now? And I will prove to you that you will discover that God has in advance chosen you.
Well, I don't know if I'm ready for that.
Okay, well then maybe God didn't pick you.
Well, it's not fair.
Well, receive Christ, and you'll discover that you've made the choice, but He's already chosen you. I don't get that. Neither do I. I'm just declaring it. But what a comfort that would be to persecuted believers scattered throughout Asia Minor to hear this truth that would be the first bolt of underpinning that attaches them to the foundation, and that is, we have been chosen previously.
Here's the second truth. We are known completely. We are known completely. Look at the wording. Electric.
Love this. according to the four knowledge of God. You know the word foreknowledge in the Greek. It's prognosis. Prognosco, prognosis.
Doctor, what is the prognosis? That's the word he uses here: foreknowledge. God knows, God sees everything in advance. That's a lot of knowledge. The same word is used of the death of Christ.
Jesus' death wasn't some accident. It's like, well, he got himself in trouble, got himself arrested, they stuck him on a cross, he died. No, that was pre-planned. Same guy, Peter, in Acts chapter 2, will say, him, Jesus. Being delivered, listen.
By the determined Purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by your wicked hands, crucified, and put to death. God sent him. You in your choice. Crucified him. Both.
are true. God's knowledge, foreknowledge. Have you ever compared God's knowledge. With Our knowledge. It's a fun little comparison.
Man's knowledge is accumulated knowledge. It's the product of tedious learning, it's the result of long research, it's augmented by human experience, and it's subject to deterioration. That's our knowledge. God's knowledge is immediate. comprehensive and without deterioration.
In other words, God never needs to research anything. He never has to use Google or Wikipedia to find out facts. His knowledge is immediate and comprehensive. God never has to string one logical premise and attach it to another to come up with a result. In critical thinking, he just knows.
God never uses Words like Huh. Or wow. Or, I didn't know that. His knowledge is all-encompassing. You can never tell him anything he doesn't already know.
And. He never forgets. How much stuff have we forgotten? Over the years. You really realize that when your third graders come home.
And they ask you a third-grade level question that's on their assignment, and you're going. I have no clue. It's been so long. Yeah, but that's third grade love hope. We've forgotten it all.
David was amazed at God's Total knowledge, his omniscience. And he said, oh Lord, you have searched me and... Known me. You know when I sit down, you know when I rise up. And then he said this, you understand my thoughts.
Afar off. Or literally, you know what I think. before I think it. Before the chemical-electrical signal is sent at the synapse of the neuron. God knows that.
Have you ever had a weird thought and you go? Where'd that thought come from? The other day, I was singing this weird song. It came to my mind. Like it's it's from the seventies.
I never even liked the song to begin with. And it starts coming out of me. I start singing it. My wife goes, What are you doing singing that thing? Where did that come from?
I have no idea. It's been stuffed in there for a long time. And it came out. And God knows how it came out. He knows my thought before I think it.
Jesus displayed this kind of foreknowledge, did he not? Jesus knew in advance That when he sent two of his disciples into that little village opposite Bethany, that there would be a little donkey waiting for them to take and bring to Jesus, he told them that. Jesus knew in advance that when his disciples walked into the city of Jerusalem, they would see a man carrying a pitcher of water who would lead them to an upper room where they would make the Passover ready. He knew that, he told them that. in advance.
Jesus even knew what people were thinking. How many times does the New Testament say, and Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, What would it be like hanging out with somebody who knew everything? That'd be a little uncomfortable. Because you'd be talking, and then you just think something, and Jesus would give you that look. Great.
Thank you. Yeah, dude, I know exactly what you're thinking. But Here's the comfort. If God knows everything, Then he knows the worst about you already. He knows the worst about you, and he loves you anyway.
In human relationships, when one person gets to know another person, there's typically a fear. The fear is if that person really knows everything about me, I will be rejected by that person. That's why we learn to hide. In relationships. That's why when we date, We put our best face on and our best foot forward and say the nicest of things because we're hiding under this.
Illusion. This fear of if I am known for who I really am, I will not be loved. God already knows the worst about you and loves you anyway. How cool is that? The Bible says he knows our frame and he remembers that we are.
But dust. You don't expect a lot out of dust. Also, if God knows everything He knows the best about us, not just the worst, the best. He knows your heart. He knows your motives.
If you have good and pure intentions, He knows that.
Sometimes we do our best and we fail. And when we fail, others see our failure only, but not the motivation behind our try, and we get judged by them. They're critical of us. But God knows the whole scoop. The Bible says, even if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows all things.
We're so glad you joined Connect with Skip Heitzig today. Don't miss Christmas Under the Tree, a special resource to help your family center on Jesus this season. It's yours when you give $25 or more to help take the gospel to even more listeners through this program and the ministry of Connect with Skip Heidzig. Call 800-922-1888 or go to connectwithskip.com slash offer. And while you're online, be sure to sign up for Pastor Skift's weekly email devotional and stay encouraged all year long.
We'll see you next time for more verse-by-verse teaching of God's Word here on Connect the Skiff-Heitzig Weekend Edition. Make a connection! Make a Connect. Shouldn't have the foot of the crossing. Castle burn.
Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of connection communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.
