to Romans chapter 8, and actually
go to 1 Corinthians I'm in 1 Corinthians chapter
1 and we're going to be dealing with as a foundation verses 18
through 24 under the title of our message, which is very clear,
called, justified and glorified part two. I shared with you last
week that there are three calls of which human beings are disposed
to experience. The first call is the call to
life. Do you guys remember that in
that call to life? We affirm the fact that none
of us are an accident. Every one of us are born into
this world on purpose. There's not a child that is conceived,
even if it doesn't make it out of the womb, that God didn't
have a direct participation in that. This is a critical worldview
for every believer because the moment you and I concede to the
notion that the conception of a child at any point does not
make it an eternity-bound soul, at that point we lose our understanding
of the preciousness of not life and the direct action of God
in producing it. The moment there is a conception,
God did it. The Bible's clear. All the souls
are mine. Not some, all of them. Every
fruit of the womb is the Lord's. Every child produced in this
world, God produced that child. That's a call God calls us at
the right time, with the right parents, under the right circumstances.
No matter how bad those circumstances are, God is in it. The second
call that we talked about was the gospel call. Not all people
hear the gospel call, but many do. This room is filled with
people who have heard the gospel call. Can I get a witness? You
have heard the gospel call. You were walking in your own
merry way in the darkness of sin and rebellion against God,
and he spoke to your heart through the gospel. Did he not? And didn't
he call you by name? He didn't call another person's
name. He called your name. And you heard his voice and you
said yes to Jesus Christ because he is a good shepherd and he
knows how to find his sheep wherever they are in the world. If this
were not true, we would have no missionaries traversing the
landscape of humanity as representatives of Jesus Christ to hunt down
sinners and bring them back to the fold. There's a final call
to which we are also going to be called. You guys remember
that? It is called the call to what? Judgment. The Bible says
in John chapter 5 verse 28, The hour is coming when all that
are in the graves will hear the voice of the Son of God. The
Son of God will call every human being to the judgment seat. We
all shall stand before the judgment seat of the great God and King,
Jesus Christ. We all will have to give an answer
for the things that we have done in this body, whether good or
bad. Romans chapter 14 makes it very
clear. Each and every one of us shall
give an answer to God. We all shall meet our God. If we don't meet him in the gospel
call, that last call is going to be a horrible call. But it's
a call nonetheless. And so as we are working through
this idea of Romans chapter 8 verses 28 through 31, going to Romans
chapter 8, 28 through 31. Don't go there yet. We are contemplating
what some have called the golden chain of eternal security. And what we mean by the golden
chain of eternal security is that God in his mercy has let
down a chain of salvation from heaven. That chain of salvation
that comes down from heaven to men is a chain that starts with
God's foreknowledge. God foreknew us before the world
began. And another link in that chain
is called predestination. God has purposed, He has planned,
He has marked out, He has limited, He has carved and shaped our
circumstances and events by which There was a day appointed where
God met you in the preaching of the gospel. We call that predestination. You guys remember that? And in
predestination, God called us to be conformed to the image
of his son. That calling is where we are now and what we are presently
contemplating and we'll develop that in a moment But that call
leads to justification and it finally culminates in what we
call what? glorification For romans chapter
8 verse 30 says for whom he did foreknow He also did predestinate
to be conformed to the image of his son whom he did foreknow
predestinate He also called and those whom he called he also
justified and those whom he justified he also what glorified Now, ladies
and gentlemen, these are all in what we call the past tense.
From God's standpoint, it's already done. That is huge. And what this does for the believer
is it tells the believer you have the privilege of sitting
with God and understanding the security of your salvation from
God's standpoint. so that we can say with Romans
chapter 8 28 we know that all things work together for good
to them that love God to those that are the what the called
we're gonna go back there in a moment to those that are the
call according to his what purpose and therefore verse 31 plainly
tells us what shall we say to these things then if God be for
us who can be against us So then there's a knowledge that the
believer has that brings comfort to him, that allows him to say
once he understands this knowledge, it doesn't matter who comes against
me. It does not matter who comes against me. As long as God is
for me, I am good to go. It does not matter who comes
against me. Because the five golden links
in the chain of God's eternal security can never be broken. Are you guys hearing me? It is
therefore very important for us as children of God to not
only know these precious truths of foreknowledge, predestination,
calling, justification, and glorification, but to embrace them heartily
as the grounds of our salvation and hope. Simply because the
world we live in is a mess. and the storms we go through
are sometimes so severe that the only hope we have are the
promises of God. Sometimes things are so bad in
our life that the only way we can know we're all right is to
reach down by faith and put our head on that chain and realize
that God still has me. Am I making some sense? This
is very important so that the just shall walk by what? That's
right. Now faith is the substance of
things hoped for the evidence of things not seen Is that true
and without it? We cannot please God for we must
believe that he is and is a rewarder of them that what? Diligently
seek him these principles are critical to your enjoying your
walk with God in the midst of all your troubles and in the
midst of all your troubles. Now what I want to do is talk
about the call briefly before we go back and deal with our
text in Romans 8. I'm only going to deal with two
points today and that is the call and our justification. Next week I'm going to come back
and deal with justification slightly and move into the contemplation
of what Paul meant when he says those whom God has called he
has justified and he has already glorified. The doctrine of glorification
really does need some treatment on its own. So we will deal with
that. Will you mark with me in 1 Corinthians 1, verse 18, that
the apostle Paul speaks to us about the gospel call, the gospel
call. And in 1 Corinthians 1, verse
18, you heard our elders say these words. For the preaching
of the cross is to them that perish, what? But unto us, which
are what? It is the what? Power of God. Now stay at verse 18, and if
you have a King James Version, the tenses do not clearly develop
themselves or manifest themselves as they should. Verse 18 is given
to us in a present tense mode, which says, for the preaching
of the cross is to them that are presently perishing. The
preaching of the cross to the man or the woman that is presently
in a state of perishing foolishness How do we know that an individual
is perishing when we share the gospel with them and they view
the gospel as what? Foolishness, we know that they
are still in a state of sin that they have never seen the glory
of God that they are not embracing The propositions of the gospel
as their only hope for glory. They're still in a state of perishing. I For the gospel are the preaching
of the cross. The cross is to them that perish
foolishness. But now watch this next line.
But unto us, can you put your name in there? But unto Jesse
Gistan, can you put your name in there? But unto you, unto
us, which are presently being saved. That's a present tense. That's a present tense. Do you
understand that you are in the process of being saved? That
God has saved you? God is saving you and that God's
gonna save you. That's good English right there.
He gonna save you. And it's very important that you understand
what we call the teleological scope of salvation because sometimes
you and I get caught up in the sometimes unjustified false confidence
of a present salvation. But the Bible would teach you
and me to believe unto the end. To hope unto the end. And that
when He gives us the Spirit of Christ, He gives us the Spirit
of Christ in order that we might have the hope of what? Glory. So that true Christian faith
looks to the end for the promise that God has for us. You know
what that means? Daily, God has to save me. Hallelujah. Think about this. God has just
saved me every day. No, I am saved, but God's still
saving me. And you know one of the mechanisms
by which God continues to save me? The gospel. the gospel. Isn't it wonderful when we hear
the gospel again and again and again? And in some cases, doesn't
the gospel save you just like it saved you 20 years ago? Have
you ever been in a situation where the preaching was so absolutely
good, God broke you down, killed you, and brought you back to
life all over again? And you, you went, I think I'm
saved. Well, you are you are already
saved he just saved you again because sometimes we got to be
saved every day Sometimes we get in messes in our life That
are so bad that God has to rescue us and he rescues us again through
the gospel Sets our head on straight cuz I hear will be walked there'll
be sideways and we're going the wrong direction We walk and he
has a sit our head on straight so we can get back on the right
path That's true That's true. And this is the power of the
gospel to those that are being saved. That gospel is so sweet. It's so powerful. It's so good. It's so magnificent. It's so
wonderful. The Lord Jesus Christ is wonderful,
is he not? And the Father is wonderful.
And the Holy Ghost is wonderful. And it's important for you and
I to know this, that we are being saved. Paul then argues verses
19 through 21 against the foolishness of our present world that would
love to build a society without God. That's where you and I are
today. We're building a society without
God. Many women in the echelons of
science and discipline are telling you and me, we got this thing
wrapped up. In a moment, we won't even need
to talk about God. In a moment, we will have all
the resources from artificial intelligence on down to the smallest
need covered by our human wisdom. The Bible, therefore, in many
of their minds will be completely irrelevant. It'll be completely
without purpose. Mankind will have arrived at
his nirvana state. What God says is, you are foolish
to think that you can rescue yourself through intelligence.
But ladies and gentlemen, I'm sharing this sort of this tension
and paradox in order for you not to be hoodwinked and deceived
by all of the outrageous claims that are coming about what mankind
can do. Oh, we love technology and we
appreciate advancements. We want better medical outcomes
when it comes to sickness and disease. I wish there was a pill
that Daniel could have taken that would have reversed his
diabetes. But the Bible is very clear. Are you ready? It is appointed
unto man once to die, and after this the judgment. You're gonna
die at some point. Even if you live 200 years, you're
finally gonna die. You're gonna meet your maker.
See, cause man didn't start this. And man's not gonna contain it.
He's not gonna maintain it. He's not gonna bring you eternal
life. This is gonna be the great antichrist system that you will
have to be careful that you don't fall prey to. The signs and wonders
that are coming out of technology, out of innovation, out of science,
out of business, out of the nations of the world, G20 and more. All
of these people with their highfalutin ideas gonna bring to the table
all of these solutions and they are going to look like they are
unassailable. That's when the vast majority
of the world is going to be deceived. But before they fall prey to
it, they're going to reject Christianity wholesale as if it were utterly
not only implausible, but offensive to even tell mankind he needs
to be saved because they will have the answer. I'm here to
tell you that the Bible is clear that right at the moment that
they begin to assert this kind of magnanimous universal power,
God is going to bust their bubble. Right at the moment that they
blossom into the fullness of their agenda, God says he shall
cut them off in the midst of their agenda. Be careful, child
of God, not to put your hopes in man's agenda. Be careful,
child of God. God knows how to set us back.
Do you know that? You know how some of us try to
build our own lives and careers with our own wisdom and our own
efforts? And we kind of leave God out
of it for a moment, and we're just on the brink of succeeding.
and God pulls the rug out from up under us and sets us back
five or ten years, humbles us and tells us, you can't do this
without me. This is what God is going to
have to do to the nation that you and I are in now. He's going
to have to remind our nation that the nation that forgets
God will be turned into hell. He's going to remind our nation
that when you turn your back on God, stick your fist in God's
face and tell God, we're going to remove the cords and bands
of God. We will not let God rule over
us. He's going to sit on his throne and laugh at little peon
man and his attempt to overthrow God. And he's going to vex us
in his sore displeasure. and he's going to show us that
amoebas, little microorganisms can humble the proudest man and
you won't even see that enemy. And then we're gonna realize
it was utter foolishness for us to say no to God. Are y'all
hearing me? But you and I are daily being
preserved by the power of the gospel, sound Bible teaching
and preaching, the work of the Holy Ghost in our life to keep
us in our right mind. Am I making some sense? I talked
about this a couple of weeks ago. I'll share this with you
briefly. Colossians chapter 1 verse 15 says very plainly, all things
were made by him. That's Jesus. And they were made
for him. That's Jesus. And by him all
things consist or hold together. That's Jesus. Outrageous statement. The Son of God created this world
at the behest of his Father. The Son of God has made everything
for his own glory and they are upheld by his power. Do you know what that means?
Nothing that is created ever reaches its ultimate purpose
until it acknowledges that Jesus Christ is Lord. Nothing that
is made ultimately reaches its ultimate purpose until it acknowledges
that Jesus created it Watch this now and Jesus created it for
Jesus Until you and I give everything that we do over to the reality
that this was made for Jesus We are going to fail to enjoy
the fullness of that thing more than that when the text says
all things consist in him and And it's literally in the Greek,
consist. That's the word meaning to put together. For those of
y'all who have difficulty with abstract concepts, remember the
days when we used to make pancake mix? Just going to help some
of y'all. We used to pour the powder in,
then pour a little bit of the milk in. If you was too poor,
put some water in there. Then we put some eggs in a little
bit and then throw some butter. Remember that? Throw a little
salt in there. And if you're really a sweet
tooth, put some cinnamon in there. And you started stirring it to
develop what we call what? Consistency. Now y'all getting
it, right? Consistency means coming together. Coming together. And when it
comes together just right, then we can go ahead and turn it into
some what? Pancakes. Well, the world only holds together
because of Jesus. And the moment we reject Jesus
from any aspect of life, it starts to disintegrate and lose its
consistency. Are you hearing me? That's why
our society is losing its mind right now on a sociological level,
because it failed to realize when God said, let's make man
in our image. This idea of redefining ourselves
is an evidence that we're losing our consistency. We're falling
apart right now as we speak. Am I making some sense? But the
child of God is not called to lose his mind. I want to be God's
pancake batter, don't you? I want him to have pancakes on
me. I want God to be able to enjoy his creative handiwork. And the only way you and I are
going to reach our total fulfillment is to realize that we were made
by him and we were made for him and Christ himself upholds us
all together. The moment I start saying, this
is not Christ, right there, it begins to disintegrate. I'm talking
about wisdom. I'm talking my knowledge. I'm
talking my skill sets. I'm talking my efforts. I'm talking
my activities. I'm talking about anything. Everything
is held together by Jesus. Even my stupidity is held together
by Jesus. My stupidness is held together
by Jesus because he holds that part together by his mercy until
I get it right. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
My stupidity is held together by Jesus. My lapse, my lacking,
all that's held together by Jesus. He's a merciful Savior, is he
not? He's a merciful God. And sometimes he puts up a long
time with these knucklehead sons and daughters of his just to
let them know, you cannot do it without me. You cannot do
it without me. The apostle Paul then is warning
about the wise man and the prognosticator and the individual who would
scorn the biblical truth. But we read over in verse 23,
And 24, these words, but we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews
a stumbling block. This is why the Jews by and large
today do not what? Believe the gospel. And unto
the Greeks, it's what? Foolishness. The Greeks correspond
today to our sort of noble scholars and individuals who think that
they are on the cutting edge of science and technology. But
look at verse 24. But unto them which are what?
I want you to mark that. Here it is. Now to the Jews,
Jesus is a major stumbling block because they cannot imagine a
savior being crucified to deliver his people. To the Greeks, Jesus
is foolishness because their science has, through their pride,
overcome their ability to humble themselves and see that they
need a savior. But unto us which are called, and I want you to
mark this, We are called both Jew and Greek. Christ is the power of God and
the wisdom of God. Do you see where our power comes
from? Do you see where our wisdom comes from? It comes from Christ. And this is true of all those
that are called now when we talk about being called We're talking
about the gospel call calling us out of darkness into his marvelous
life You and I are presently the call point number one then
let's go to work in our outline and start progressing down I'm
going to be sharing a few things that I talked to you about last
week under the concept of the call We are talking about the
effectual and powerful call that brings about salvation in the
soul Did we not say last week that many are called but few
are what? And is it not clear in the Bible that many episodes
occur where God shares the gospel through a prophet or a preacher
or a person and a number of people hear it but only one person really
gets it. You guys remember the case where
the Apostle Paul was walking down the Damascus road with a
number of fellas in order to persecute the church and Christ
spoke to him. There were other men with him
who heard the voice but they couldn't distinguish what the
voice was saying. That's like a lot of folks in church who
sit and hear the preacher, but they don't hear Christ. They
hear the words and they're wondering, what is all of the hoopla? What's
all these folks around me that's excited about? Why are folks
crying and why are folks laughing and why are folks raising their
hand and stuff like that? Because the call is different
for them than it is for him. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
So there's a general outward call that may give them some
intellectual data or information, but then there is that internal
call of the power of the Spirit by which sinners actually hear
the voice of their Savior. Didn't we learn that last week
in John 10? My sheep, what? And they follow me and I give
them eternal life and they shall never perish. And that's the
voice that we hear when the gospel comes in power. Has it come to
you like that? It drew you to Christ and you are now walking
with Jesus Christ because of the effectual work of the gospel
Paul puts it like this in 1st Thessalonians chapter 2 verse
13 mark this 1st Thessalonians 2 13 He describes the power of
preaching this way and you and I get to examine ourselves to
ask did the gospel come to me this way he says in 1st Thessalonians
chapter 2 13 for this cause also we thank God without ceasing
and Because when you received the Word of God, which you heard
of us watch this you Received it not as the Word of what that's
the problem in your churches today Most of your liberal churches
progressive churches your highfalutin churches They really do not believe
that the Bible is the Word of God or they don't mind pulling
out text of the scriptures and giving homilies and telling stories
and making people feel good and But they really don't believe
that the Bible is the infallible, inerrant Word of God. They don't
believe it. Now watch this. When God actually
talks to a person, they know it. Did you get that? When God
actually talks to a person, they know it. They do not wonder whether
or not they are hearing the voice of men or the voice of God. And
those of us who truly believe God, here's what we know. We
know that God spoke to us through this book. We know that God spoke. We have no doubt about that.
We don't argue, we don't debate it. We don't wonder, is the Bible
the Word of God? I know that the Bible is the
Word of God. I know that. Do you know why I know that?
Because the message of this book saved me. It brought me out of
darkness into the marvelous light. It took me out of a pit, a horrible
pit, and set me on a solid rock. The word of God did this. The
gospel did this. I don't question its authority.
I don't question its divinity. I believe the word of God. And
what Paul says here, we did not receive it as the word of men,
but as it is in the what? True, the word of God, which
is presently working effectually in you, who what? Believe. Do you see then this relationship
between the true believer and the Word? Watch this. The true
believer is constantly conferring with Scripture. Because Scripture
is actually sustaining your faith. It's strengthening you. It's
energizing you. It's delivering you. It's advising
you. It's actually conforming you
to Jesus' image. Now some of you might have been
in the faith 5 years, 10 years, 20 years. Aren't you amazed at
how God can change your character? You know this dumb stuff you
used to do? That you don't do anymore? But when you used to
do it, it wasn't dumb to you? Now we know it was dumb. That's
because you've been renewed in your mind. God has developed
your understanding. He has shaped your character,
changed your will, your volition, and your values have changed.
Remember that I mean some of the stuff we used to do we're
ashamed of even letting people know I don't know about you,
but I have I wouldn't tell you some of the stuff I'm not only
used to know do but thing I'm embarrassed But the Bible tells
me I was a fool and he has made me wise in Christ This is the
power of the gospel and we need to be continually changed. Do
we not? See you and I are not perfect and we won't be perfect
till we get to glory. I But the God who has called
us by His grace is working on us. Is He working on you? Is
He working on you? Is He working on you? Is the
Great Potter placed you as the clay on His wheel? And is He
not working on you? Is He not shaping you? Is He
not forming you? Is He not knocking off those
impurities and those flaws? It hurts a little bit, but it's
good, isn't it? Because He knows what He's doing. He knows what
He's doing. The Great Potter knows what He
is doing. And He won't finish. until it's
time for you to go be with him in glory, or he comes again.
This is the effectual call that we're talking about. So going
back to our PowerPoint, let me work through these three very
quickly. Point number one, sub-point, called by the gospel. You guys
got that, right? We've been called by the gospel.
I want you to see one more verse around that that's critical.
2 Timothy 1 verse 8. 2 Timothy 1 verse 8. When you look up this Greek term
kaleo, its noun form which talks about the calling the calling
God calling you'll find all the way through the scripture that
God calls he caught that's the only way you're coming to God
is when he calls you remember how Peter James and John were
fishermen but the Lord Jesus after his ministry began to preach
and he began to call and Those men to him and he told them follow
me and I will make you what fishers of men in 2nd Timothy chapter
1 I want you to mark what it says in verse 7 and then in verse
8 and 9 mark this now for God has not given us the spirit of
what? That's right. But a power and
of love and a what? Oh Some of y'all need to own
verse 7. I'm not gonna stay here long,
but some of y'all need to own verse 7. Because there's some
characteristics and attributes there that's critical. Some of
us need a little bit more love. Is that true? And some of us
need a little bit more power. Is that true? And some of us
need to have that fear extracted from us, because God's not calling
us to fear. If God calls you, He removes
your fear and gives you faith. Are you hearing me? You can't
walk with God doubting everything God says. He's going to remove
it because he's going to show you that he is more than capable
of fulfilling his promises in your life. And so when we talk
about walking by faith, we are talking about nullifying every
illogical, irrational fear that would say but to God. We ain't
got no business saying but to God. Are you hearing me? No business
saying but to God, but God, but God. No, no, no. He didn't give
you that spirit. He gave you a spirit of confidence
to hear him out. And he also gave you access to
inquire, to help you understand better if you don't get the proposition.
See, God's not one of those people that don't care about you knowing.
He's intensely concerned about you knowing. He shares things
with us and he's willing to explain it. But you've got to be patient
enough to hear God out. Am I making some sense now watch
this The text is a powerful text because it tells us that god
did not give us the spirit of fear But a power that's doing
this ladies and gentlemen, that is real spiritual power to be
able to walk with god and love Before any of us were saved.
We did not love god. I know you thought you did you
didn't You didn't love god. You hated god All god was was
kind of like a bellhop for you when you got in trouble you holler
that right? No, really, when you love somebody, when you love
somebody, you have the same disposition towards them, no matter whether
you are in trouble or not. And when God saves you and poured
the love of God in your heart, you love him because he first
loved you. And the reason why you and I
need to hear the gospel all the time is because we need to be
reminded of how much God loves us. and the nature of His love,
the character of His love, the expression of His love, the manifestation
of His love. How much does God love the sinner
to whom He has set His love on them? He loved them such that
Christ died for you. That's crazy love, isn't it?
That's crazy love. And we love Him back, don't we?
Now watch this last one, because a whole bunch of us have lost
this commodity. We need some more soundness.
Right. See, because our world is going
crazy because it has rejected, it has extricated Jesus from
the equation. So everything is falling apart
around us because Jesus is really the answer. Jesus is really the
what? Answer. Is Jesus the answer?
Say, Pastor, help me. He's the Alpha and he's the Omega.
He's the first and he's the last. He is the Amen of God. Does that
help you? See, God says that Christ is
the answer. He is the logos. He is the Word of God. In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. There was nothing that was made that the Word did not
make. So if we're going to excise or cut out or extract from the
equation the Word of God, you and I are never going to come
to the right conclusions. Now watch this now. When the
term says that God has not given us the spirit of fear but of
power and of love and of a sound mind, you know what that means
ladies and gentlemen? He has given you the gift of
grace to be able to think like Him. And when we are not thinking
like God, we are nutty. You got that? When you and I
are not thinking God's thoughts after Him, we are nutty. So when
you hear people drawing conclusions that are contrary to the Word
of God, don't say it to them, you're going to make them mad.
But know this. That's exactly right. My next verse that I really want
to draw your attention to is verse nine. Here it is. Not only
did God give us love and power and of a sound mind, He says
in verse eight, and be not thou ashamed of the testimony of our
Lord. That's an issue that's going to take place in our present
generation with all this craziness going on. Are you going to be
willing to stand up and say, but the Bible says, are you going
to be willing to in the midst of all your peers at work when
they're surrounding you at the table in the lunchroom and they
all have bought into these new crazy notions? Are you going
to be able to say, but the word of God says, see, are you going
to be ashamed of the testimony of Jesus Christ. What Paul said
in Romans chapter 116 was, I am not ashamed of the gospel. And
the reason I'm not ashamed is because it saved me. Mark this,
child of God, the only way you're going to be confident to tell
people the truth is that your relationship with God is based
on the fact that he actually saved you. Now stay with me for
a moment. When somebody actually saves
you, you're going to take up for them, aren't you? When people
talk crazy about your Savior, aren't you going to let them
know, hey, I'm not going for that. The person that actually
saves you then indebts you with at least the dignity of protecting
their character. You don't have the right not
to, as it were, defend the character of God or of Christ. So when
you hear all these fools talking about Jesus is a myth, Jesus
is a mere man, God is a myth, God can't be true, your job is
to let them know not only is God true, he saved me. Not only
is He true, He saved me. Not only is He true, He created
you. Not only is He true, if you don't bow the knee to Christ,
you know, you're gonna get in trouble on your job when you
go to doing that. If you don't bow the knee to Christ, you're
going to hell. The same God that you're rejecting gonna send you
to hell in a tangible, physical, obvious way, because every knee
gonna bow. Not some knees. Every knee gonna bow. Every tongue
gonna confess Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God either
now in the power of the gospel or on that last day. So you see
y'all got a whole lot of stuff to work with when these fools
go to talking to you about how these things that we believe
are not plausible. But what the text is saying is
you got to be ready to share it. The motivation for sharing
the gospel is your love for the Savior who actually saved you. Now some of you are going to
discover that you don't have the ability to speak up for Christ.
And that's going to be because you are not yet saved. Do you
hear me? You are not yet saved. Because
when he actually saves you, it's going to be impossible for you
not to stand for your Savior. Do you hear me? He did not give
you the spirit of fear, but of love for Christ. A power to share
the gospel for Christ. and of a sound mind to articulate
the gospel for Christ in the face of all the oppositions that
are coming at us. Are you guys hearing what I'm
saying? Now, in order for us to stand on that day when they
tell us, if you tell me one more time that Jesus is Lord, I'm
going to cut your head off. Guess what the Holy Ghost is
going to do? He's going to come alongside of you. No, never alone. No, never alone. He's going to
fill your heart He's gonna embolden your spirit He's gonna allow
you to open your mouth and tell many women the truth as it is
in Christ and you're gonna be Dispatched to glory as soon as
the enemies cut you off. They have no idea what they have
just done They've actually ushered you into your reward right away. They have no idea but ladies
and gentlemen I am going there on this concept of the glory
of God critical to our being saved because you must believe
in the glory of God to be willing to tell men and women the truth
about Christ. You got to believe in the reward
of glory. You got to believe in it. So
he says that we are not to be ashamed of the testimony of our
Lord nor of him that is Paul or any preacher his prisoner
but be thou a partaker of the what afflictions of the gospel
according to the word of god ah now notice what verse 9 says
be thou a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of god who hath what saved us now who saved us god did if
you read the text the antecedent to who is who god god has saved
us and he also what called us you see how important the calling
is God saved us in Christ and then he called us. Now notice
what it says. He called us with a holy calling. Not according to our works, but
according to his own purpose and grace. Will you get this
shout of God? Which was given us in Christ
before the world began. Is that huge or what? Watch this now. There are great
and exceeding precious promises that are yours. and they have
always been yours. They were yours before the world
began. But God vouchsafed them in Jesus Christ. This is huge
because this goes back to our Romans text where he foreknew
us and he predestined us and he called us. You know what he's
calling us to? Promises that he already made
before the world began. I said this years ago. I'm getting
ready to go back to my text. It's one thing for us to know
that God loves us. It's another thing to know that God loved
us before the world began. with an everlasting love and
drew us with cords of a man. It's one thing to know that God
loves you right now. It's another thing to know that God loved
you before he created anything. Isn't that huge? Isn't that huge?
It's one thing to know that God loves you. It's another thing
to know that he made the world with his love towards you in
view. That's huge. That's huge. That means nothing
in this world will change your understanding of the immutable
love of God towards you. It's a huge benefit in terms
of our emotional well-being to know that God has already loved
us. Now let's go back to our text, Romans chapter 8. I want
to quickly run through these points so that we can begin to
contemplate the table. Point number one, we speak to
this call because in Romans chapter 8 verse 30 it does as well. Moreover
whom he did predestinate them. He also called and whom he called
So our text says we are called effectually. We are called powerfully
We are called by the gospel point number B is we are called to
be what? Well, nobody said nothing right
there So I say it for myself Called to be saints. I said for
myself Now, I know I got a bunch of sinners in the house. I know
that I Ain't no doubt about that bunch of sinners in the house
and you're looking at the chief of sinners right here besides
the Apostle Paul But I want to help some of you in your theology
so you can get this straight because a lot of people actually
think that to be a saint Is to no longer be a sinner and they
teach this in churches all over the place but because we're serious
about the Word of God and And we are called to prove all things
and to hold fast to that which is good. We do not hold to the
proposition that when God calls you a saint, you're done being
a sinner. Now let me ask a question. I'm
going to get a little bit psychotherapeutic right here. Anybody a saint in
the house? Can I get a hand? Hand, hand.
I've got a bunch of hands. Somebody take a picture of all
this. Anybody got some saints in the house? Now watch this.
Stay with me now. If you're a saint, can I ask you, do you still sin?
Watch this now. Do you still need a mediator?
Do you still need a high priest? Do you still need someone to
ever intercede for you at the right hand of God? Do you need
someone for whom when John says in 1st John chapter 9, if we
confess our sins He is just and faithful to forgive us of our
sins and to have already cleansed us from all unrighteousness.
Don't we need somebody between us and God because of our present
sin? Now watch this now. If you still sin, isn't it reasonable
to say you're a sinner? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Stay with me for a moment now.
This is very important because we're going to fix somebody's
theology today. Because see, listen, I already told you if
you're an honest person, you're not going to hell. Now, he called
you with a holy calling. His job is to clean you up and
get you right so he can use you and bless you. But it's never
going to be on this side of glory ever sinless The sin will diminish
But it will never go away Because first corinthians chapter 1 verse
29 says that no flesh should glory in his sight Now i'm going
to help some of you because none of us want to sin against our
god Do we not if you're truly born again? Now if you're not
born again, you love your sin If you're saved you don't love
it You hate it. And if you're saved there is
grace to help. Is that true? But that grace tempers your life
and allows you to live with what we learned in Romans chapter
7 is the good that I would I do not the evil that I would not
do I find myself doing so I see a law in my members that brings
me into captivity to the law of the sin of the law of sin
of sin and death if it wasn't for this Jesus Christ who Overcomes
this wretched man in my life. I would constantly be a slave
to my sin But because of the presence of Christ in my life,
he gives me grace to overcome my sin and move forward in obedience
to him. Is that your experience? But
daily it's a battle. Is it not a battle? Is it not
a battle? Daily it's a battle. So that every day we have to
say, Lord, I need you. I need you give me grace because
without you I can what do nothing So I'm helping you understand.
This is what it means to be a saint. What does it mean to be a saint?
It means to be called out of the world into the kingdom of
God. It means to be set apart to Christ as That are those are
them with which God is working in your life Those of you who
are new in here, you can take down this little acrostic if
you want to you can say I am iguana W I P Do y'all know what
that means a work in progress. I am a work in Progress y'all
got that because we are in a state of sanctification and The state
of sanctification is where God is conforming us to the image
of Christ. He's changing our mind He's renewing our values
He's walking with us. He's reminding us that we're
not perfect yet. Sometimes you got to fall to
remember that. Because we got this thing called pride that
rises. Y'all know anything about it? This pride thing that rises
up and we all have a tendency to think that we don't walk on
the ground. Our feet just, we just float
in the air. We'll act like that. And then
we'll go around telling people that we are better than we really
are. Now, is that true? Sometimes
we will talk and act like we are better than we really are.
This is a problem. This is why God allows the remaining
sin, if you don't get it. He allows the remaining sin so
that when you are successful in lying to others, your girlfriend,
your boyfriend, your husband, your wife, pretending that you
are better than them, when it's really nothing but a temporary
delusion, delusions of grandeur, That you better than your spouse
better than your friend better. Yeah, it's just it's a momentary
lapse of reality That's that in mirror mirror on the wall.
Who's the fairest of them all watch this now Jesus Jesus Jesus
Did you get that Jesus but you got your face in the mirror oh
with all of the airbrushing and going on. The airbrush. You know
how they airbrush stuff? I look at those people, I say,
that sister ain't that hot. I know her. That brother ain't
that hot. You know they can airbrush your
six-pack on now, right? They can airbrush your six-pack
on. That's what sin does to us. It deceives us into making us
think we are better than what we really are. And then the Holy
Ghost has to come knock you upside your head and let you see that
you got a long way to go, but you are secure in Christ. So
you can actually tell people the truth and not be afraid because
honesty is the best value. This is what being called apart
as a saint is all about. God wants his saint to be what
we call in the old theological terminology, worldly saints.
I should be talking about that. I'm not. A worldly saint is simply
a person who knows how to live in this world with everybody
else and not pretend that they're holier than thou and at the same
time be in the world but not of the world. To be insulated
but not isolated. To be able to keep their identity
in Christ while kicking it with people. To be able to be salt
and light without losing its savior or its revelatory impact. Am I making some sense? This
is what a worldly saint is all about. A worldly saint knows
how to kick it with folks and let people know I'm just like
you in a lot of ways, with the exception of the grace of God,
which I want you to have also. Am I making some sense? Alright,
so under our points, we are called to be saints. You can read it
for yourself. 1 Corinthians 1, 2, Jude 1, 1, Revelation 17,
4, and many other verses where Paul will open up to the saints
that are in Colossae, to the saints that are in Philippi,
to the saints that are in Ephesus, to the saints that are in Corinth.
Now you know our brothers and sisters in Corinth were a mess. But he opens up both epistles
calling them saints. And he had his theology straight.
So he knew what they were, and he knew what they were not. And
God knows what you are in Christ, and he knows what you are not
in yourself. And God knows how to retain both
of those realities, because he knows in the day of glorification,
the sin's going to drop off. And it's going to be a perfect
product. Are y'all hearing what I'm saying? This is critical.
There you go. Give him some glory for it. It's true. It's true.
Now this third point is crazy. This third point, I'm just going
to touch on lightly because I want to come back next week. The Lord
gave me a major nugget on that. So this is crazy. I've just been
jazzed about this one all week long. You and I are called to
suffering. Get a handle on that, child of
God. Philippians chapter 129. It is not only given on the behalf
of Christ that we believe on him, but that we also suffer
for his name. That's Philippians chapter 129. Romans chapter 8,
17 says, if we suffer with him, we will also what? Reign with
him. Because we are heirs and joint heirs with Jesus Christ,
we already possess the inheritance with Christ. We are already seated
at the right hand of Christ. It only behooves you and me to
suffer in this world like he did. Did your master suffer?
Did they hate him and despise him? Did they reject him? Did
they abuse him? Did they misunderstand that brother?
Well, that's what they're going to do to you too. They're going
to misunderstand you, reject you, ridicule, malign you, talk
bad about you, lie about you. Well, you got to take the hit
because your master took the hit. You know what he said? If
they did it to me, they're going to do it to you. Suck it up. I'll be with you in the midst
of that trouble. You got to embrace the theology of suffering because
that's what the cross is all about. Am I making some sense?
and you've got to embrace the theology of suffering because
it's the direct path to glory. This is crazy. Go with me to
2 Peter chapter 1 verses 4 and 5. I'm going to show you something
and I'm going to wrap it up right here. 2 Peter chapter 1. Now 2 Peter is a marvelous epistle
written by Peter to a persecuted church that was scattered abroad,
even as far as Babylon, and he's encouraging them as they're being
scattered abroad to remember the grace that was given to them
by Jesus Christ. The thing that you do when you're
going through suffering is remember. The thing that the child of God
has to do when you're going through trouble is remember. Because
the one thing that will quickly leave your mind and mine when
we get into trouble are the promises of God Is that true? You know
how when the heat is on when we're going through troubles
we forget Bible verses Is that you we forget John 3 16 and Genesis
1 1 what the Genesis 1 1 site? No, because we going through
trouble we become myopic tunnel vision and And there's just this
strange dynamic occurring where it's hard for us to cleave to
the promises of God. And even if we can retain them
intellectually because some of us have done the hard work of
memorizing scripture, there's often a disconnect between what
we know and what we feel. There's often a disconnect between
the promises of God, I am with you always unto the end of the
world, and what I'm going through. Can be I can feel very lonely
in the midst of a difficult situation Even though I know the precepts
I will always be with you. Am I making some sense? So there
is a need for us to practice the promises of God so that they
can be there Vitally in the midst of those times when we are going
through real trouble now watch what Peter says I need you to
start back at verse 3 sis. Here we go. Now mark what Peter
says I according as God's divine power has given unto us all things
that pertain unto what life and godliness market the gift of
grace and the presence of the Holy Ghost is not so you can
necessarily live large with all kind of wealth and opulence if
that was the case my missionary brothers and sisters wouldn't
have a job are you hearing me See, faithful missionaries don't
go around the world promising people health, wealth, and prosperity
because they know better. And it would behoove every one
of us children of God to just take some of that money you make
and take a vacation to some of our third world countries and
spend a week with our poor brothers and sisters. It'll change your
life. When you come back, you'll learn
how to manage your money better. You know how to wake up every
day and thank God for a roof over your head. clean running
water, a toilet on the inside where ain't no snakes around
ready to bite you in your butt. And for all of the things that
we really take for granted, If you were among our poor brothers
who know how to worship God from the depths of their soul, having
little or nothing, they know how to praise Him and exalt Him
at levels of praise and exaltation that some of us barely know.
I'm telling you the truth. My brothers and sisters in third
world countries know how to worship God just for life, just for strength,
just for a piece of bread that day, just for a little pottage,
a little water, And you and I are complaining all the time when
you and I are overwhelmed with so many material goods. Is this
a good message for you today? This is important for you. It's
important for me as we prepare for the table. According as His
divine nature has given unto us all things that pertain unto
life and godliness. See for God, the most important
thing for you and me is spiritual life and godliness. Now he's
called us to holiness. Watch this. Through the knowledge
of him that have called us to what? Glory and virtue. This
is the last line I'm going to touch on. We're going to close,
take the offering and then have the Lord's table. The Lord has
called us to a life of spiritual virtue, our spiritual dynamic
and godliness, where over time you start to think like Christ.
So I want to help a few of you if you've never been under my
preaching before. Godliness is not this weird, bizarre sort
of mystical piety. You know how these folks that
have this kind of superficial holiness, where they talk weird
to you, and they act weird too, because somehow they sit at the
elbow of God, and only they know God, and you can't get to God. And you know they're full of
crap, right? You know they're full of crap, right? You know
it, right? You know they're just full of crap. And you just can't
wait till the crap show up so you can say, ah, I knew I knew
it. I knew it. That fool ain't no
better than me. It's true. And a lot of people
try to hoodwink you with false religion. And you are never to
be. Don't even spend five minutes
with false religion. Don't spend five minutes with a man or woman
or anybody that put on the facade that they are so holy that you
have to call them the holy man of God, the holy woman of God. the spiritual woman of God. All
that is a lie. Read your Bible from time to
time, you'll understand that. Jesus said, call no man master,
call no man father. Y'all all brethren. Ain't nobody
getting in but by me. No one's getting in by anybody
else. We can all love one another. We can all help one another.
But if you're getting in the glory, the only door in the glory
is Jesus. He is the really only holy one. He is the holy one of Israel.
All this other crap is just a bunch of facade. Don't ever be hoodwinked
by it. That man stinks just like you do. That woman's hair is
raggedy just like yours. She gotta go pay for her weave
just like you do. She gotta buy makeup just like
you do. A mess! A mess! A mess! Are you hearing
me? A mess! Our people get hoodwinked
by what we call a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.
And the power is the power of the gospel. It's the power of
the gospel to cause your soul to rest in the merits of Jesus
Christ, His righteousness, His blood, His holiness, His perfections,
because it's not about you, it's about Him. It's not about you,
it's about Him. Watch this now. So, it's through
that knowledge that we have been called. But I want you to mark
this down as I close. You haven't been just called
to glory and you haven't just been called to virtue. Literally,
you have been called to His own glory and excellence. What you and I have been called
to is the glory and excellence of Jesus. God has called you
and attached you to the perfections of Christ. And it's there that
you and I are to spend all of our days enjoying and knowing
and marveling at the perfections of God in Him. Because everything
He is, He is for you. And everything you are, you are
in Him. And this is why our allegiance
to him must be such that we are willing to suffer for his cause.
But here, brothers and sisters, is really where the rubber meets
the road. We must behold his glory. You must be able to see the glory
of God in Christ. That's the thing that's going
to help you in the time of suffering. That's going to help you in the
time of trouble when people lie against you. You got to see him
in his splendor, in his majesty, in his power, in his greatness.
Don't let Jesus shrink on you. Don't let him become small and
just become another peon, echelon being. Realize that he is great. And he is glorious. And he is
magnificent. And he is perfect. He is better
than 10,000. He is lovely. He's altogether
lovely. Our Beloved is white and ruddy
and perfect and splendid and impeccable. He's impeccable. You guys understand that? He's
holy. He's harmless. He's without sin. He's separate from sinners. He's
in glory right now. And because He's in glory, we're
in glory with Him. Our perfections are Jesus Christ. Christ is the glory of the invisible
God. And because He is, you and I
are partakers of His glory. Even right now. Because some
of y'all soul can bear record with me. Can you? And you're
so happy right now. And you're so happy right now
at the contemplation of the glory of God in Christ. All right.
We're going to have the offering at this time, and then we're
going to partake of the Lord's table.