Finding Purpose-Romans with Russ Andrews episode 15

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This is the Truth Network. Do you feel like you're on a religious treadmill? Do you feel like Christianity is just a system of rules and regulations?

I can do this, but I can't do that. Do you feel like your efforts to reach God, find God, and please God are futile? Do you feel like your faith is dead or alive? Today, Pastor Russ Andrews will walk us through Scripture to answer these questions. Join us on Finding Purpose, glorifying God by helping men find their purpose for living.

For more information and to connect with Russ Andrews and Finding Purpose, you can visit us online at findingpurpose.net or connect with us on Facebook. Now let's listen to Russ Andrews as he teaches us how to be a Christian without being religious. So let's say a word in prayer. Well, I pray that you would take this message tonight, Lord, in the quiet of your minds and hearts, and just to hear your work transform us into the hand of God's rules of faith.

This is your name, I pray. Amen. Oh, some of the times, God says, God serves us for the Lord.

Do you all hear that? God serves us for the Lord. If we were given Romans 8, verses 28 to 39, but before we get to Romans 8, I want you to know, I want to thank God that we're going to finish chapter 1. Finish chapter 1, whatever it is, because we'll keep it where it was. Romans and Romans are exactly what it means, but the manipulation of it is not the way it is. Is that the way it is? Yeah. Well, so finish chapter 1. God made this verse that I think I really, I think I had written this week, they pretty much summarized Romans 8.8, but the issue is death here, and it's basically God laying down His plan for the world, for His struggle.

So let's look at it home-wise. If you have a struggle of a certain sin, and you committed over it, and I'm not going to believe it, and you committed over it, you just can't see, you're addicted to it, whatever that conviction may be. You know what God often does? What does a father do when a child is being rebellious? He disciplines him for his what?

Good. You have an earthly father just as his son, for good. What do you expect God the Father to do? He disciplines us for our good, because then He'll discipline us, and through that discipline, He is teaching us the ugliness of sin, so that we get to where we hate it. I was talking to somebody today, I don't know who it was, I just got some hate with sin.

I know it was a friend that came by and tried to run off, I hate it. When am I going to stop sinning? Well, when you die. God distance us so that we pay our sin, and despise it, and we will eventually turn away from it for good, because God will set you free from those evictions. So God, listen to me, God calls into His family, and that purpose for us, and that purpose for me is to be, is to become more and more holy and blameless.

Do you know why God wants us to become more and more holy and blameless? So we'll experience a lot of peace and joy. Holiness, I hate this question, holiness is what happiness is, but what I mean by happiness is joy.

Happiness is fleeting, happiness depends on circumstances, joy is not. You can have joy in the midst of pain. So God is working with us, just like a potter working with clay, God is at work transforming us, the Bible says, from one glory to the next. Second premise, 3 of 10 says, and we know, we do with unveiled faces, all reflect the Lord's glory. So you as a believer out of the Lord, you're supposed to reflect on God's glory, and you will if you walk in obedience to God, but He says we'll be transformed into His likeness, whatever increases the glory which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit, and we're heading back to our ultimate glory. In fact, that's my next point, my next section, and God foreknows you as part of His family, and He calls you to be one of His sons. You are placed, and God does the work, He places you on this path, it's an unbreakable path to glory, and this is what you're giving great security. Look at verses 29 to 30, Paul writes, for those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed into the image of His son, and He, that is Jesus, might be the firstborn among many brothers. So when you realize that God has called you, and you belong to His family, what does Jesus become to you?

You're what? You're a brother. Not only are you a son of God, but Jesus, you're the first of the many brothers. And those who need predestined, He also called. And those who need called, He also justified.

And those who need justified, He also glorified. So God places on this unbreakable path, and we can never be removed from it. You see, because once God begins to work with you, He'll be faithful to what? Complete it. When you begin on that path, God's going to make sure that you finish it.

One of the most wonderful verses in the Bible is John 10 and 29, where Jesus, my Father, who has given you mentally, so He's given you to God the Father, He says, no one can snap something out of my hand. That's called security. I remember one time I went to Russia on this mission trip, and I just thought about this, and we were down in Great Valley, and we were flying an Aeroflot. You ever fly an Aeroflot? No. And I said, how long?

Doesn't it bother you sometimes, you know, just to feed on them? Aeroflot. You see, the safest place to be is in the center of God's will. That's when Jesus has you in His hand, that's the safest place you can be. Now I want you to think of this unbreakable path as a chain with five links, and none of those links can be broken. It's one chain, five links, and the links are foreknowledge, predestination, calling, justification, and glorification.

You got that? John my Father says, it is essential to realize that these five links in the chain of God's saving work are unbreakable. That's coming from John my Father. And so this is how God has created His eternal family. We want to know how you're saved is through these five links. And I want you to notice that the words Paul is using here, they're verbs, and they're all in the past tense. Why do you think they're in the past tense?

What's that? Certainly. Who said that? It's so certain, so guaranteed that what God is doing for us, you get all the way to glorification, it's like it's already happened. So Paul is just describing the past tense in John. You see, God stands out outside of time. So for God, it is the past tense. He sees what's happening. And to fully understand how God saves us, we've got some theological words we've got to make sure we understand what they mean.

And the first one is for you. I know that's the word you kind of look at then, look at all these words. So what does it mean to be foreknown by God?

Well look, I'll cover that tonight and understand it. But just to be clear, foreknown comes from the Greek word, Prokonoska. Can you pronounce that?

Prokonoska. It doesn't matter how you pronounce it. Anyway, it means something to me.

Listen, if I have enough to pronounce, you've got a good chance you can pronounce it. First, actually one of my favorite classes that I took, one of my favorite subjects was Greek. And I only took one year out of it, which was my third year, and I got David Black. He's one of the best Greek theologians, you know, in the world. I mean, I don't think I'm going to miss anybody.

And I had him for a whole year. But if I know how much I'm going to love the Greek, I will take the first year and I will take the first three years. So that's why I'm not quite as good on my Greek as Grant was, because he had three years, Grant has, or he had three years of Greek. But anyway, it's just great to really begin, when you understand the Hebrew and the Greek, you're going to see the miraculous way that God's Word is knit together, even after the verse. Every word in there is put there because the Holy Spirit led four writers over the course of 1,500 years to write as they were led by the Holy Spirit.

They were cured alone, Peter says, by the Holy Spirit. He said, guys, you can trust that this is God's Word when you read it, every word of it. Now 1 Peter 1 22 says, to God's elect, that by mission is a mouthful, because there we, that's that first kind of mention of a word we're scared of called election. But he says, to God's elect, strangers in the world who have been chosen, how many times have we ever chosen somebody?

I think God's trying to make it more. Jesus says, I chose you, you do not choose me. Is that pretty clear? You don't have to understand it, but you do have to what? Believe it. Accept it.

It's the truth. When we get to heaven, we'll understand it more. To God's elect, strangers in the world who have been chosen according to the full knowledge of God, the Father. And so what Paul is doing here, actually what Peter's doing here in this verse, he's equating predetermined plan for ordination and for knowledge.

They may not look the same thing. So what he means is that God chose us and he knew us. This knowledge that God has of us, this before knowledge, it makes it he knew us and he turned it past.

It's actually me and his son already adopted into his family. He knew that before he created the world. Jeremiah 1 says before, I formed you in the womb, I knew you.

That's that word for knowledge in the Hebrew. Before you were born, I set you apart. Before, this way of saying to Jeremiah, before you were born, Jeremiah, I knew you and actually set you apart to make you holy.

That's what set apart means. And so if you are in Christ and it's only because God knew you personally, it's belonging to his family, equally created the world, then what should you do when that truth comes to life in your heart? Do you know what our professor told us? John had that. He said, when you go to think God has chosen you, you should get on your knees and find him. Now let's consider predestination. The second link of this chain, MacArthur says that foreknowledge works at the beginning of God's purpose in choosing us. Predestination looks at the end of God's purpose in choosing us. You got foreknowledge at the beginning and predestination at the end. And predestination simply means what it says, to determine beforehand. So God has determined these things by his sovereign will and by his sovereign plan. And so do you know that Jesus died on the cross, was foreknown and planned by God and predestinated? In Acts 2 to 23 Paul confronts the Israelites with this truth. This man is pointing to Jesus or talking about Jesus. This man was handed over to you, that is to the people that crucified him, by God's set purpose and foreknowledge.

And you, with the help of what you've been, put it to death by having him at the cross. And God planned that when? Before the Lord began. The cross was always God's plan A. And then in Acts 4 to 27 and 28, Luke writes, indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together through the Gentiles and the people of Israel, to conspire against your holy servant Jesus. They did what God's power and will had decided before me, as you know. He planned it, God planned it all. Even Herod and Pilate coming together.

He planned it all. We're just like chess pieces on a chess board. And God is moving the chess pieces according to his sovereign will. Number three, not only because of God's sovereignty, I believe it's going on, but I've got a predestined say that they're also called. Now, did you know there are two callings in the Bible?

There's the general call, and then there's the specific call, or the inward call. So Billy Graham, he's pre-called to the world. That's the general call, John 3 16. The gospel's around to the world, and it's the Latinas.

They don't care about it. But the only way that anyone will come and believe the gospel is if you hear the inward call of the Holy Spirit calling you to Jesus. Now, let's understand this. There is a lot of mystery in all of this.

In particular, we talk about working for knowledge and for relation, and so we're trying to delve into the mind of God. Can we really do that and go very far? No. How far can we go?

Only? What's that? As far as God wants. Exactly.

Only as far as God wants. And when we get to the point where we can't understand it, what do we do about it? Believe. We accept it by faith. We trust it. And when do you think we're going to understand it?

That's right. You know when Jesus told the disciples in the beginning of that day, you will no longer ask me anything because they were asking all these questions. What the hell was he talking about? When they died. When we get to heaven. A question ought to be answered. We're not going to worry about it anyway.

And listen, if you don't understand it, that wasn't his lead. I don't want to say I haven't. Now here's the question that always comes to mind, and we're going to deal with this more deeply next week. How about those whom God did not form or predestinate?

Ever know? How can they be held responsible if God did not choose them? But this is a very difficult question, and I don't have time to really get into it. We're going to dig much deeper into it in Romans 9.

Here's all I have time to say tonight. Nowhere in the entire Bible, just say that God predestined unbelievers to hell. He doesn't say that anywhere. If a man faces condemnation one day, it will happen only because he rejected God's grace and mercy over and over again by his own free will. John 14 says, whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already.

Why? Because he's not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. So here's what, and I've got a friend of mine who's become my mouth choice. We've been talking about these issues, and he's been a Christian for 50 years, no survival back and forth, still struggles with this. He's a stronger than theologian than the rest of the years, but here's what I tell people, men becoming a better question. If they're a believer, then I tell them what I just told them. What do you get to happen if you know the truth?

And the truth is such a pretty word, but. And to unbelievers who cannot really understand this at all, I tell him, do you have a problem with the fact that God chose believers? Yes. Or do you want to know if they're chosen? Yes. Then choose him.

Right now. He can't. By what? Faith. David Jeremiah put it like this, it's like a door right over here, all of a sudden it says, all who will make it up.

And so you think you're using your will. You walk through the door a little bit, and this time it says, God chose you for the creation of the world. And the reason why you want that door is because that Holy Spirit was working on your heart and pulling you.

Otherwise you would have never walked through the door. Now let's look at justification. Paul says those who become, he also suggested, I mean you know what this word means, we've been talking about it all year.

What is justification? Basically declared righteous. And when God declared you righteous, it is written in heaven.

And it can never be changed. God doesn't go back on his word. That's why Paul writes, therefore there's now no condemnation for those who are Christ Jesus. And this is being declared righteous.

It's the greatest news that can ever happen to any name in the world. Because you don't have to face judgment, you don't face condemnation. You don't have your sin to never be brought up again. You're facing an eternity in heaven where you want to experience peace and joy and the likes of which no one has ever experienced. And yet most men reject the gospel.

We can refine it. We have an event in Carolina country called Thursday where Webb Simpson and William King and Ben Crane, who's also a professional government for one reason or another, to share the gospel. And we have a lot of men who probably don't know the Lord coming. So what y'all been praying for? Their salvation. Their salvation. That they were good at gospel.

I don't know if I brought that up. But my point is, they're going to be given an opportunity to be good at gospel. And I would appreciate y'all's prayers for William, King, Mr. Costner Fellowship, and Webb, and Ben. They're doing this, they might get paid to do this. They're giving up their time. Webb's leaving five children.

Webb's leaving four daughters. Why are they doing this? They're going to be in Chapel Hill. You think Chapel Hill needs it?

They're going to be in Chapel Hill that night with Madison Perry who's got a huge ministry on the campus of UNC sharing the light. Finally we come to the end of this, and guys I'm over time, y'all bear with me, because I got to get some good news. Some more good news. So we come to the end of this unbreakable path and guess what awaits us as believers?

Chlorification. And it's in the past tense. Why? Because Paul says we have been glorified because it's so certain that it's going to happen, it's like it's already happened. One day we will share in the glory of God, which you understand this, on a newly restored earth that will be pristine, in glorious, heavenly, divine, eternal, I won't say divine, but eternal spiritual bodies that will be immortal. And how long is that going to last?

Forever. And when's this going to happen? When we see who? Jesus. 1 John 3 2 says, Dear friends, now we are children of God and what we will be has not been made young. But we know that when He appears, we shall be what?

Like Him. We're going to have a glorified body like Him and we will never sin again. It comes to an end in that moment. You want to be tempted.

Never have to deal with it again. Paul ends this incredible passage with what John MacArthur calls the hymn of security. It's the eternal security that every believer is granted. And I'm going to go through this fairly quickly, but we're looking at verses 31 through 39. And here Paul asks five rhetorical questions that only really need an answer because the answer is so obvious.

And here's the first one. Paul asks, What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Who can be against us? No one. Not Satan.

Not any evil person on earth. No one can stand against us because we have the Holy Spirit in us. Verse 32, Paul asks, He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things? So how do we know that God is going to give all these things He's promised to us? What has He already given us?

The greatest gift. These gifts will pale in comparison to the gift He's already given us, but it guarantees that He's going to be true to His Word. Second Corinthians 1 and 20 says, For no matter how many promises God has made, they are yes in Christ.

They're guaranteed. In verse 33, Paul asks, Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who's He that condemns? Christ Jesus is the one who died. More than that, who is raised, who is at the right hand of God, and who is... What's He doing for us in heaven? He's interceding.

He's praying for us. Can anybody bring a charge against us? No. Do you know who brings charges against us?

Probably probably a lot during a lifetime? Satan. What does Jesus do? Who is Jesus for us? He's our advocate. He's our defender. When He brings up a charge against us in heaven, He turns to the Father and says, Don't worry about that charge. He's one of ours.

He's already covered. In verse 35 and 36, Paul says, Who shall shepherd us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, For your sake we are being killed all the day long. We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.

So, man, I said this last week, but right now all throughout the world, Paul says we are the scum of the earth. Earth. The refuse. You know what refuse is? I looked it up to make sure I knew what it was. It's trash.

It's garbage. We are the garbage of the world, and we are rejected, and we are despised. But guess what God's going to do one day? Isaiah says, The sovereign Lord is going to wipe away the tears from our eyes, and He will remove the disgrace of His people from the earth. And He backs it up by saying, The Lord has spoken. What does that mean?

It's going to happen. In verse 37, Paul makes his astounding promise at the end. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who love us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of Christ, from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Could anything separate us from God's love?

Nothing. And here's what I want to end with. I want you to see what John heard from Jesus when he was on the island of Patmos. And you don't need to turn there, but it's in Revelation 2 and 3. And what Jesus is making here, He's making promises about what He's going to give us one day. Listen to this. He says, To Him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

How about that? The Bible began with the tree of life in a garden. It's going to end with the tree of life in the garden. Then He encourages us, Be faithful even to the born of death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death. What's the second death?

Hell. He goes on to say, He who overcomes will be dressed in white. That's how righteousness.

And I will never block out His name from the book of life. When's that book going to be opened up? In the great white through judgment. And if anybody's name is not found written in it, where are they? They were cast into the second.

They experienced the second death, the lake of fire. But see, our name is not in there. And then He says, But I will acknowledge His name before My Father and His angels. He's going to acknowledge you one day because you belong to Him. And then Jesus says, I'm coming soon. Hold on to what you have so that no one will take your crown. Him who overcomes, I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and never again will He leave it.

Once you're in paradise, you'll never leave it. And finally Jesus says, To Him who overcomes, I will get the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Let me ask you something in closing. Does that not encourage you?

Have you ever heard that in church before? I doubt it. Why not? I don't know.

You don't go to the right church. Those who are foreknown by God before the foundation of the world will one day be transformed into lasting glory to live with God in our new home, the Bible calls paradise. So let me ask you, do you have ears to hear?

Do you? I hope so. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank You for Your word. Thank You, Lord, for the truth in it.

Thank You for this man. Dear Heavenly Father, I do pray, Lord, that Your word went forth, and I know it did, and it accomplished the purpose for what You intended. And I pray, dear Heavenly Father, that You would just help each one of us to be more and more in love with You, and that we will have more and more of a deeper and intimate relationship with You, and that one day, Lord, You will come, and we will witness Your second coming if we're still alive, and You will bring us up and then bring us back down to this new earth, and You will bring evil to an end, and we will be to live with You forever. Lord, we long for that day. As the revelation ends, You say, I'm coming soon. So, Lord, we ask You, come soon. In Jesus' name, amen.

All right, guys, I'm sorry I went over. You got your money's worth tonight. Being a Christian is not about being religious, but about having a dynamic, alive relationship with Jesus Christ. You've been listening to Finding Purpose with Pastor Russ Andrews, glorifying God by helping men find their purpose for living. You can discover more about finding your purpose in life by checking out the resources at findingpurpose.net or connect to Finding Purpose on Facebook. Pastor Russ would also like to extend a special invitation for you to join him and over 300 other local men to study God's Word together every Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in downtown Raleigh. Find out more at findingpurpose.net. This is the Truth Network.