Finding Purpose-Romans with Russ Andrews episode 17

You know, I thought we were dying to bring it up when we came up.

That's why we're not going to chat anymore. Y'all want to stand up? This week is going to stand up for the next week. Almost time.

So this is important, right? Very fondly, thank you for this time. I thank you all for bringing all this energy here. And for all the folks who have given us our longing and our honor. Thank you for the dear advantage of the water that we drink down in our hearts. We can't, but we need you to do more than that.

Thanks for playing. Lord, when the Psalms says that we surrender to all of you, we raise the plant right back. And then ask you to save us. Lord, I pray that you would take this message tonight, Lord, in the platform of arms and hearts, and just to hear your work transform us into the hand of the God who wants to be. It's an honor to pray again. Oh, something kind of nice to judge you. God serves us for the Lord.

Y'all hear that? God serves us for the Lord. We're going to do the Romans chapter 8 verses 28 to 39. But before we do the Romans chapter 8, we're going to think about the truth and finish chapter 1.

Finish chapter 8. Why is it like this? Because we'll keep it where it was.

Romans is in question. So let me say one thing. It's like the manipulation of the earth. Is that what I did? Yeah. So finish chapter 1. This verse that I think we're reading, I think I'm reading this week, I think we're going to summarize Romans 8 and 28. But the truth is dead here, and it's basically God laying down this plane for the world to be destroyed. So let's look at what it qualifies as.

It's hideous. It's serious. From following into deeper sin. So how does God work out the sin in the last five minutes? Well, I can tell you He does it.

If you are a struggle of a certain sin and you committed over it, and I'm not a believer, and you committed over it, you just can't see you're addicted to it, whatever that addiction may be. You know what God often does? What does the Father do when a child is being rebellious? He disciplines him. Forgives 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 where I'm going. Because then He'll discipline us. And through that discipline, He is teaching us the ugliness of sin so that we get to know that we hate it. I was talking to somebody today on one of the good ones. I just got some hate with sin.

I know there was a friend that came by driving by because I hate it. When did I ever stop sinning? Well, when you die. God distance us so that we pay our sin and despise it and eventually turn away from it for good. Because God will set you free for reservations. So God, listen to me, God calls into His family. He brings purpose for us. And that purpose to me is to become more and more holy and blameless. Do you know why a child wants to become more and more holy and blameless?

So we're experientialized. Peace and joy. Holiness, I think this is a question. Holiness is what happiness is. You know what 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 and the Bible says from one glory to the next.

Second Corinthians 3 and 18 says, And we know that when we do, we unveil faces all reflect the Lord's glory. So you as a believer, as a believer out of the Lord, will be transformed into His likeness with ever increasing glory which comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. And we're headed where? To what? To God.

Glory. In fact, that's my next point in my next section. God foreknows you as part of His family. And He calls you to be one of His sons. You are placed, and God doesn't work, He places you on this path. It's an unbreakable path to glory.

And this is what should give you great security. Look at verses 29 through 30. Paul writes, For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed into the image of the Son. In other words, 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?

Your what? Your brother. That way with the Son of God and Jesus, you will be 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 us on this unbreakable path and we can never be removed from it. You see, because what's happening against you, if you're working with you, you'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, one of the 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 snatch it out of my hand. That's called security. I remember one time I was, I went to Russia on a special trip, and I just thought about this, and I was with a guy named Greg Elling, and we were flying an Aeroflot. You want to fly an Aeroflot? No. And I said, How, doesn't it bother you sometimes, you know, just being on an Aeroflot? He said, The best place to be is in the center of God's will.

That's for you. When Jesus hands 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. You want to know how you're saved? It's through these five links. And I want you to notice that the worst qualities that we're 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? It's already gone. Certainly.

Who said that? They're all going to take credit. It's so certain, so guaranteed, that what God is doing for us, 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 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 got some theological words we got to make sure we understand what they mean.

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

Well, I hope you all covered that tonight and understand it. But just to be clear, foreknown comes from the Greek word, progenuska. Can you pronounce that?

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

Listen, if I have to roughly get the answer, if you all get the answer, 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 he taught me David Black. He's one of the best Greek theologians in the world.

I mean, I don't put him up against anybody. And I had him for a whole year. But if I know how much I was going to love Greek, I will take it for a year, and I will take it for 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 three years of Greek. But anyway, it's just great to really begin when you understand the people of the Greek, you're really going to see the miraculous way that God's Word is knit together, even after the verbs. 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, that's that first kind of mention of a word we're scared of called election. But he says, to God's elect, strength in the world, who have been chosen, how many times have we ever chosen tonight?

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, strength in the world, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God, the follower. And so what Paul is doing here, actually what Peter's doing here in this verse, he's equating predetermined plan for ordination and foreknowledge.

They may not be 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.

He's actually being His son, already adopted into His family. He knew that before He created the world. Jeremiah 1, 5 says before, I formed you in the womb, I knew you.

That's that word, foreknowledge in the Hebrew. Before you were born, I set you apart before. This way of saying to Jeremiah, before you were born, I knew you. And I 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? He said, when you go think down this church with me, you should get on your knees and find out. The second link of this chain, MacArthur says that $4 works at the beginning of God's purpose in choosing us. Pre-designation looks at the end of God's purpose in choosing us. You've got $4 at the beginning and pre-designation at the end. And pre-designation simply means what it says to determine beforehand. So God has determined these things by His sovereign what?

Will. And by His sovereign plan. And so do you know that Jesus out on the cross was foreknown and planned by God in pre-deaths of Jonah? In Acts 2 to 23 Paul confronts the Israelites with this truth.

This man is pointing to Jesus, or talking about Jesus, which is Jesus' glory. This man was handed over to you, that is to the people who crucified him, by God's set purpose and foreknowledge. And you, with the help of work in Ben, put him to death by making it to the cross. And God planned that when? Before the war began.

Before the war 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 with 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 prayed to God that it all. Even Herod and Pilate came together.

He prayed 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 but believe it was foreknown, as you can say, that they are also called. Now, as 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 you go to the ground. Are these pre-called of the world?

That's the general call. John 3, 16. The Gospel of the world. And it's the Latinas.

They don't care about it. But the only way that anyone can come and believe the Gospel is if you hear the inward call of the Holy Spirit calling you Jesus. Now, as long as you understand this, there is a lot of mystery in all of this.

In particular, we talk about work like foreknowledge and forerelation. And so what we're trying to do is 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 the Bible. Exactly.

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

What are you doing with it? That's right. You know when Jesus talked to the disciples in the beginning of that day, he would no longer ask you anything. Because they were asking all these questions.

What the hell was he talking about? When they died. When we get to heaven. I'm questioning all the answers. We're not going to worry about it anyway. And listen, if you don't understand it, don't listen to this lady.

I don't understand how am I? 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 who God did not foreknow or predestined? Ever know? How can they be held responsible if God did not choose them?

This is a very difficult question. And I don't have time to get into it tonight. 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 does it say that God predestined unbelievers to hell. It 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 an officer and we talk about these issues. And he's been a Christian for 50 years. No survivor back and forth still struggles with this. It's a struggle that theologians have wrestled with for years. But here's what I tell people, men becoming a better expression. If they're a believer, then I tell them when I just talk, what do you get to happen if you don't know the truth?

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

Right now. You can't. By what? Faith. 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. And you walk through the door and look down at it. And this time it says, I've chosen for the creation of the world. And the reason why you walk through the door is because that Holy Spirit was working on your heart and pulling you. Amen. Otherwise, you would have never walked through the door.

That's right. Now let's look at justification. Paul says, those who become, he also suggested, you know what this word means.

We've been talking about it all year. What is justification? Basically, we declare it God. Righteous. And when God declared you righteous, it is written in heaven. And it can never be changed.

God doesn't come back from His Word. That's why I call it righteous. Righteous. And when God declared you righteous, it is written in heaven.

And it can never be changed. That's why Paul writes, therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who Christ Jesus. And listen, being declared righteous is the greatest news that can ever happen to any name in the world.

Amen. Because you don't have to face judgment. You don't face condemnation. You know, your sins will 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, you're facing an eternity in heaven where you want to experience peace and joy and yet most men reject the gospel.

We get refunded because we have an event in the Caribbean country called Thursday where Webb Simpson and William King and Ben Crane who's also a professional developer come 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? There's something there. There's something there. There's something 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 get a gospel. And I appreciate y'all's prayers for William, Kane who's with Cosmount Fellowship and Webb and Ben. They're doing this they're not getting paid to do this. They're giving up their time. Webb's leaving five children.

We're leaving four dollars. 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? Glorification. 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 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.

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 31-39 and here Paul asks five rhetorical questions that only really need an answer because no one can stand 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 give us all things? 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 120 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 speaking for us. He's praying for us. Can anybody bring a charge against us?

No. Do you know who brings charge against us 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 follow us, saying, For 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. I said this last week, but right now, all throughout the world, Paul says we are the scum of the earth.

We are the scum 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. Because 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, and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Could anything separate us from God's love? Let me turn there but it's in Revelation chapter 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 be in the tree 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 our righteousness. And I will never block out His name from the book of life. When's that book going to be opened to you? He's going to 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 who never came 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're not going 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 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 says, amen. All right, guys, I'm sorry I went over. You've got your money's worth tonight. Cheers, Steve. Gentlemen, have a good week. Enjoy your trip, man. Have a good one, buddy. See you later. Have a good one, buddy.

See you later, man. Thank you. Yeah, great. Thanks, sir. You're welcome.

You're welcome. You all right? Yeah, I'm doing better.

No, I'm good. I really am. Yeah, thank you, sir.

Appreciate it. Excuse me, sir. Okay. I don't know how well folks... I'm a bartender. Yeah. Hey, Jerry. Good to see you. You're welcome.