Discovering Divine Love: Insights from Romans 8

Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church Podcast, where we are proclaiming the truth to the world.

My name is Pastor Josh and I want to thank you for listening to this podcast.

I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen you in the word of God.

Now come along, let's look into the Bible and see what God has for us here today.

Well, we're in Romans chapter 8.

I. I know that we are in December and I know that we are in the Christmas season, but I do need to finish the thought here in Romans chapter 8.

We went through Romans chapter 828 last week, and I do believe that we need by way of context to finish verses 28 and 30 because of the fact that the thought is being completed there.

But I do want to let you know that we will be talking more and more about the Christmas season and the coming of Jesus Christ.

But I will say that it will be intertwined with the book of Romans because I believe that there really isn't a better passage that explains the love of Christ better than Romans chapter eight.

And we're going to talk about next week.

How can we know that God really loves us?

But in the meantime, we need to finish the thought here in Romans 8.

So if you have your Bibles, turn there with me.

Romans 8.

And we're going to pick up where we left off last week.

Romans 8.28.

And this was a verse that we talked about last week, and it's a difficult verse for us to talk about because sometimes we don't feel like this verse is coming to pass.

But again, it's not about what we feel, it's about what we know about our Savior.

And through that confidence or faith in him, we're able to live a life of peace and we're able to live a life of power.

Romans 8:28 says, and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Now I want to highlight just a few things here.

The, the first part of that verse says and we know.

So there speaks of a confidence here.

But.

But in the original Greek it speaks of an experiential confidence.

Saying this we know, we've experienced, we've seen.

And so by way of context we understand that Paul is saying because of what we have witnessed in the past, because of the saints that have come before, because of those that have come before us, and we've seen God working in their life, we know that God is going to do the same with us.

We have no reason to doubt that God is going to change.

And we know that in the word of God, the Bible says that he does not change.

Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever.

And so, just as God has been faithful with those who have come before us, so we know that God will be faithful with us today.

And so if he tarries that he will be faithful to those that come in the future.

That's what Romans 8:28 is saying.

We know, we've experienced, we've seen that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the call.

So it's not working together for everybody in the world.

It's working together for the family of God, for the children of God.

And so we have seen it, we've experienced it.

And so the saints that have gone before, like we saw In Hebrews chapter 11 last week, the saints that had faith in the past, God preserved them.

God made all things work together for their good and for his glory.

A good example of this is seen in Genesis chapter 50.

I'd like you to see this.

This is a passage that I wanted to go to last week, but for the sake of time, we didn't make it there.

But Genesis chapter 50, most of you know the story of a fella named Joseph.

And Joseph did not have an easy beginning.

He didn't really have an easy life.

Joseph went through a lot of persecution.

Joseph went through a lot of betrayal.

Joseph went through lies about him being imprisoned falsely, all of these things.

But we're going to see what Joseph's testimony is at the end of his life.

Well, what does he see his life to be?

He could have complained about a lot.

He could have said, look at me.

In spite of all these difficulties I've overcome, I'm better than my circumstances.

But In Genesis chapter 50, verse number 20, we see Joseph's heart in the matter.

He's had a difficult life.

His brothers betrayed him, sold him into slavery.

He went into Potiphar's house and was falsely accused.

He was thrown in prison.

He was forgotten in prison.

Eventually God worked him out to be one of the leaders in Egypt.

And God blessed him.

But in Genesis, chapter 50, verse 20, he says, but as for you, and he's speaking in this place to his brothers, he says, you wanted what?

He says, but as for you, ye thought evil against me.

So this shows that Joseph's brothers had evil in their hearts.

It didn't mean that God caused the evil.

It didn't mean that God is the author of evil.

But Joseph's brothers had evil in their hearts and they acted on that evil in their sinful desires.

So again this, if we go Back to Romans 8:28, it's not about all things are good and God ordains all of these things.

And what does it say here?

It says that these individuals thought it was evil, they were committing evil, they were committing sin.

But then it says, but God meant it unto good to bring to pass as it is this day to save much people alive.

Joseph has the blessing to see the bigger picture, to say there was evil done against me.

God did not cause that, but God made that all for his good so that people could be saved.

I think that this is the greatest picture of Romans 8:28 being played out.

He says, there are people that have caused evil in my life.

There are people that have, that have sinned against me.

There have been people that have betrayed me.

But God in His sovereignty and his all powerful nature has used all of those bad things for my good.

And that's what we have to understand when we're looking at Romans 8:28.

This is not a passage that says that everything that happens to me is good.

It's not a passage that says that God makes all these things happen and even if they're bad things, they're good things.

No, it says that even with sin all around us, even with this broken world of, of sickness and curses and all of the evil, God still is all powerful to make those things for his good and for our good.

That that's the power of God.

I've recently had an opportunity to talk to some individuals that have said, you know what?

You can't tell someone who's in pain that God loves them.

Why?

Because if God loved them, he would take them out of that pain.

That is not what the Bible ever says.

Does God have the power to heal every sickness?

Yes.

But he doesn't.

And he has a bigger purpose.

And so the bigger understanding is that God is good and that whatever he does is good and whatever he allows, he can make good.

And I have to trust in Him.

I don't know all of his ways.

And where that starts is a place of faith.

If you do not believe that God is all good, if you do not believe that God is all powerful, then we have place of doubt, then we have place of bitterness, then we have place of questioning.

And who are we to question the goodness of God?

Who are we to question the will of God?

What we must say is, lord, I know that you are good.

I know that you are not the cause of this evil.

You've allowed this to happen to me for whatever reason.

And Lord, give me the wisdom, give me the patience, give me the peace, give me the understanding to know that this is going to work out for your good and mine, your glory and my blessing.

And we talked about this last week, that the greatest blessing that any of us can have would be that one day we are glorified, one day that we will be with Him.

And that's the blessing that we are longing for.

The truth is, is that I could be praying really, really hard to get out of a situation in my life, but it might not be God's will for me to get out of that situation.

It might be that God is allowing me to be in this situation for, as Joseph said, so that people can be saved, so that people can know the truth, so that people can see God's faithfulness through me, so that they may see my good works and my faithfulness and glorify my Father, which is in heaven.

So that's Romans 8:28.

He says, we know, we've experienced that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

And so today what we're going to be talking about is the called, because the next few verses are verses that have been highly taught in many different capacities, various interpretations, and there are various theological implications from those interpretations.

We can read Romans 8, 28 and 29 and 30 and believe that God ordains evil, that God selects certain people to go to heaven, and he selects certain people not to go to heaven for his glory.

Or we could read verses 29 and 30 and see that God just knows what's going to happen.

He isn't sovereign.

He just sees what's going to happen.

And then he then blesses those that make their own decisions.

And those are two interpretations of this passage that I believe many Christians trust in.

But I want to bring to you a third interpretation of this passage, and I think that I will walk us through it this morning enough to understand it.

And then the Lord might move your heart to believe whatever God calls you to believe here.

So let's look at verse number 29, for whom he did foreknow.

He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

There's a lot there.

We could spend weeks and weeks and weeks on this verse alone and dig deeper into it.

We don't have the time to do so.

So what I'm going to try to do is give a thorough analysis of this passage of Scripture with context, with.

With the whole book of the Bible in mind as we look into the character of God.

And what does this mean?

That he foreknew, that he predestinated that we are conformed into the image of a Son.

We're going to look into that here this morning.

So let's pray, and then we're going to dive right into this passage.

Lord, I pray that you'd be with us in this sermon this morning.

I pray that the Word of God is clearly presented, Lord, that the Holy Spirit works in our hearts and in our minds.

Lord, I pray that we can find peace in what your word says here this morning.

Lord, help us to understand you, Lord, help us to walk in your grace, Lord, help us to understand that here this morning that there's many burdens in our life, that there's many struggles that we might face, but ultimately you are in control, Lord, and you have a plan and a purpose for our lives.

And so, Lord, I pray that you remove any distractions from our minds and from our hearts and allow us to see you clearly here this morning.

In Jesus name I pray.

Amen.

So one philosophy of verse 29 is that God ordained.

Some to heaven at the beginning of time and some to hell.

This is called determinism.

Those he did foreknow, meaning the ones that he knew before he predestined.

The other mindset that many people have is that he foresaw through the corridors of time, who would believe and then called them.

That would be one interpretation as well.

But I want to propose to you here this morning, then, verse 29, that that word for no could be interpreted a few different ways.

Actually, in the original Greek, that word for no means a few different things.

It means one to ordain, but also number two to just know beforehand, to be personal with beforehand.

And so I believe that this is talking in past tense about those that God knew before.

Romans, chapter 8.

We know that's what he's talking about in verse 28.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God.

We know we've experienced, we've seen other saints in the past have God work good in their life.

So therefore, those he knew before, that's what that word foreknow means.

Those that he knew before he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son.

Now, to understand this passage, we have to understand that God is not bound by space and time.

It's not like God was sitting in the past and looking into the future.

Not like God is in the future looking to the past.

God is above time and space.

He is not bound by linear time.

Therefore he is in every moment of time.

He is not looking two days ago and thinking, well, in two days he's going to do this.

He already knew that.

It's not like us in the way that we see movies and the way that we read books.

We see that there's that linear time, that we're bound by that.

But God is not bound by space and time.

We also need to understand that God is not evil and he is not the author of moral evil in this world.

James Chapter 1, verse 13 tells us that God cannot tempt us with sin.

Therefore he does not bring sin into an individual's life.

He is not the causer of evil in this world.

I would venture to say that God is not the one who creates more evil.

Actually, moral evil is not a thing to be made, but a choice contrary to God's purposes.

So essentially evil is the absence of God.

Evil is the absence of good.

And we know that God is ultimately good.

So there's not necessarily a creator of evil.

It's the absence or the rebellion against God.

God's holy character and his his law give us what moral truth is.

Therefore, moral evil does not conform to God's law or his will.

God is good.

We know that through Psalm 34, God is holy.

We know that through many passages of Scripture he's thrice holy.

God is loving, therefore his plans and purposes are good, holy and loving.

Therefore, God does not condone or create or instigate evil in this world.

Therefore, we know that there's other passages of Scripture that tell us that God is not willing that any should perish, but all should come to repentance.

And so for someone to read Romans 8:29, I think that God, before the foundation of time, ordained some to go to heaven and ordained some to go to hell and wanted that and uses that for his glory would be a contra contradictory element of his character.

Now some would say, well, I thought other passages of Scripture speak to predestination.

I believe completely in predestination, which we're going to talk about here in a few moments.

I completely believe in being chosen and elect.

But we're going to get to what that means here, here in a few minutes.

So the key word in this passage in verse 29 is for no.

I believe that Paul is referencing saints from the past, due to the past tense of the verb being used in this passage.

And I know that we don't really want to talk about grammar, maybe on a Sunday morning, but grammar is important because in these next two verses, verses 29 and 30, he's speaking in the past tense.

He is speaking in something that has already happened.

Now, some would argue that he's talking about the future, but he's so sure in what the future is going to be that he's speaking in the past tense.

I don't believe that to be the case because we see that this whole passage of Scripture is dealing with the.

The looking back to something and the looking to something.

If you go back to Romans 8:28, he says, for I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Meaning he's talking there in the present, and he's talking about the glory that will be revealed.

But if you look at verses 29 and 30, he's speaking of those that have been glorified, those.

Those that have been justified.

So in a past tense sense, that's what he's talking about.

So a basic definition of this word for know would be to know before, to be familiar with before.

He uses this word in this way two different occasions.

If you look to Romans 11:2, Romans chapter 11, verse 2, it says God hath not cast away his people, which he foreknew.

Now, in the whole context of Romans chapter 10, he's speaking of people that he knew before, people that he had a relationship before.

For I also am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.

So he's speaking of the past.

And so that word is used there in that same way in 11 Hebrews 11:2, he foreknew.

He's talking about people that he knew before what ye not that the Scripture saith of Elias, how he maketh intercession to God against Israel.

And so I, I want you to see that there in 11, verse 2, he's using that word for no as someone that he had experienced with before.

Another passage of Scripture that you might be familiar with, or maybe not, but it doesn't matter because we're going to go there is Acts chapter 24, verses 4, or excuse me, Acts chapter 26, verses 4 and 5.

Now, I'm doing a lot of this to build a case here, but we're going to get to the application here in a few moments.

Acts 26, 4 and 5.

This is again another Reference to somebody knowing someone before.

Just having an experiential relationship with someone before.

It doesn't necessarily mean just knowing before.

It means to have an experience of fellowship before.

So Acts chapter 26, verses 4 and 5 says, My manner of my life from my youth, which was at the first among mine own nation at Israel, know all the Jews which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify that after the most straightest sect of our religion, I lived a Pharisee.

So this is speaking of people who just knew Paul before.

And so this is just an experiential relationship.

So if we take those two references and how they're applied to Romans 8:30 and 8:29, it would be that God had a relationship with the saints before.

And therefore because of that relationship, we know that he predestinated the corporate elect, those who believe in him for salvation, to be conformed and image to His Son.

So it could be understood this way.

Just as God has been faithful to the ones who have been trusting in him through faith, through the past, so he will be faithful to those today who and tomorrow who do the same.

So verse 29, for whom he did for no, the saints of the past, he also did predestinate, meaning this.

Those that have trusted in God in the past were part of the corporate elect of God.

Those that he has called for a specific purpose.

We who believe today are still part of that.

We who believe today are part of the group of God that He has called to be more like Him.

And so the predestination is this.

If we are a child of God, he has predestinated us to have this happen in our life.

What is that?

To be conformed to the image of His Son.

And that's really where we want to spend a lot of time here this morning.

Because if you are a child of God, if you have trusted in him, if you have put your faith in the work of Jesus Christ, if you have put your faith in the person of Jesus Christ, he now has a plan and a purpose for your life.

I don't know if you've ever heard a pastor or a teacher or anyone get up and say, God has a plan for your life.

And a lot of times we think, well, does that mean I'm supposed to live in Delaware or Florida or California?

Well, God does have that type of plan for your life.

But I think that all of us can agree that God has a similar plan.

That he has predestined from the beginning of time that all of his children become more and More like Jesus Christ.

That's the idea of Christ likeness.

And so to be conformed means to be formed in the image of something.

And so what we could read verse 29 as is this.

Just as God has known others in the past, he did predestinate those to be conformed to the image of His Son.

And now when he knows us, he then predestinates us to be conformed into the image of His Son, to be molded, to be shaped, to grow in a place where we are more and more like Christ.

And so what we see here is this God's plan for us.

It's God's will for us to be spiritually mature, to grow in our understanding of Him.

And the way that that looks like in our life is that we live and react and believe and love like Christ.

So spiritual growth equals conformity, Conformity equals Christ likeness.

It is God's plan for all believers, all of his children, to be more and more like Christ, to love like Christ, to sacrifice like Christ, to, to forgive like Christ, to, to be patient like Christ, to humble themselves like Christ.

And so I would encourage you to think about that here this morning, to think about not, am I a good person?

Because a lot of us can say that we're good people.

And compared to other people that aren't as good as us, we can say that we're good.

But God doesn't say, be better than other people.

God doesn't say, hey, you know what?

Try your best.

He says, no, the standard is Christ, and that's what we're supposed to grow into.

Now the truth is, is that none of us are going to reach that standard.

Because if some of us could reach a standard of perfection, then we would say we don't need God anymore.

But the truth is, is that the Jesus is the dividing line between what is good and what is evil.

None of us can reach what is good.

Therefore, we need Christ in our life more and more to grow to be more like Him.

So we can never be perfectly Christlike.

But the call for us as Christians is to be more Christ like every single day.

And that's what he has predestined us to be.

He's predestined us to be more and more like him.

Verse 29, he says, to be conformed into the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Now this confuses a lot of people because it says that Jesus is the firstborn among many brethren.

Meaning is Jesus created?

Did Jesus come as a creation of God?

Well, that's heretical.

We know that Jesus has always been John 1:1.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

So how could he be firstborn?

Well, again, we have to go back and understand what this word firstborn means.

To be firstborn could mean the oldest child, right?

So Micah is my firstborn, but that's not what it's talking about here.

Because if that was what that was talking about, it would be contradicting everything else that we see in Scripture.

Six times Jesus is declared to be the firstborn of God.

You can see that in Romans chapter eight, like we're reading or Colossus chapter one, or Hebrews chapter one, or Hebrews chapter 12, or even in Revelation chapter one.

So what does this mean?

Well, there's another meaning to being firstborn.

In, in the Jewish culture, to be firstborn meant that you had the preeminence that that you were the most important, that you were special, that you were different, that you were unique.

In this case, we know that in John 3:16, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.

Well, that word begotten specifically, only begotten together means specifically the difference, the uniqueness, the distinctness of who Jesus is.

And so those passages that reveal that Jesus is the firstborn of God declare the pre existence, the sovereignty and the redemption that Jesus Christ offers.

It speaks of his preeminence among any of us.

So it does say earlier on in Romans that we are joint heirs with Christ.

So some people actually teach this.

Some people actually teach that when we become Christians, we become little gods, we become little Jesuses, and that we can access the same power that Jesus has.

But that's not what this is saying.

This is saying that we're joint heirs with Christ in the concept of our blessing and our access to God and in our eternality.

But at the end of the day, it says here in verse 29 that he might be the firstborn among many brethren, meaning we're all part of the family of God.

But he's the preeminent one.

He's the one we worship.

We don't worship other Christians.

Sometimes we get in that trap.

We look at other Christians who are maybe more spiritual than we are or just seem to be more powerful than we are, and we worship them.

The Bible says no.

The only one that is preeminent and deserves our worship is Jesus Christ.

He's the firstborn among many brethren.

Though we're joint heirs with him, we ultimately glorify him and lift him up as he is God.

And so the phrase firstborn of all creation proclaims Christ's preeminence as the eternal Son of God.

He is the one that created the universe.

He is the ruler of all creation.

Therefore, we have to sit underneath him and submit ourselves to him and be more like Him.

So what does it mean to be Christ like?

What does it mean to be conformed into his image?

Well, the Bible says it's the Holy Spirit that conforms us into the image of the Son.

It's dying to our flesh.

And so we will fast forward to Romans, chapter 12.

It says, Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

The Bible says that we are transformed to be more like Christ when we die to our flesh, when we die to the wisdom of this world.

And we say, lord, I'm following you and I'm obeying you, and I'm trusting that all things will work together for good as I trust you through the process of life, whether it be difficult or whether it be a blessing or whether it be a struggle, or whether it be through health or whether it be through sickness, I trust in you.

Because through the process of purification, we become more and more like Him.

The Bible speaks of a process of purification by putting us to the fire, by putting us through a trial of fire.

And it says that as we are like gold.

I don't know if any of you have gone through the process of the purification of gold or silver, but there's dross, there's.

There's junk inside of these precious metals.

And how do they do it?

They put it to the fire and they basically skim out all of the junk.

And it doesn't maybe come out all the way every single time, but that process goes over and over and over again.

That's exactly what's happening in our life.

We.

We go through the trial not to question God.

We go through the trial so that God can put us to the test, so that that junk that we're carrying along with us throughout our lives can be cleansed and that we can become more like him.

And we can remove those distractions that are in this world, be not conformed to this world, but be transformed.

And so it's becoming more like Him.

It's dying.

To the things of this world, I know that for me, sometimes I grip so tightly, but to the things of this world that I feel like that's what I deserve, and I feel like that's what I need.

And I feel like that's what's going to give me hope.

But at the end of the day, the Bible says the more we release the.

The.

The more we let go of the things of this world, the more we're able to allow the Lord to cling to us and we to cling to Him.

Draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you.

There's this.

There's this story, and I don't know specifically how it.

If this is the exact way that it played out, but I did.

I thought I saw it on a nature documentary.

I think I mentioned before, I like to watch nature documentaries and see things.

There's these baboons and they, they couldn't.

They.

They like went into this hole and it had like, some treats in there.

And they was gripping so tightly to these, this food that he wanted and that, that it was a trap.

He couldn't get his hand out.

He could slip his hand into the hole open, but when he closed it to hold on to that food in there, he couldn't pull his hand out.

And there was a way that they could trap them.

And that's sometimes how we are in this world.

Sometimes in this world, there's.

There's the trap that's there and, and the thing that we consider to be so great and we reach our hand in there and all we have to do is let go of that thing that we are gripping onto, but we want to hold to it so tightly that we're trapped.

And the Bible says that sometimes there are sins that are like a snare.

The Bible says the fear of man is a snare.

And we grip and we hold onto it, and we think that that's given us some type of security.

But the Bible says when we relinquish our tight grip to this world, Colossians chapter three says, set your affections on the things which are above, not on the things which are below, not on the things of this earth.

And so when we look at Romans 8, 29, we see that God has been faithful to those, and he has conformed them into the image of His Son.

And he is likewise conforming us into the image of His Son.

Now, you can't be conformed to the image of the Son unless you are a child of God, unless you are those who have known God and that he has known us.

And so I want you to think about what it means for us as Christians to be conformed, to be molded into the image of Christ.

You know, one of the things that I think about within my own life is, would this.

You know, there was those bracelets a while ago that got really famous and they made a resurgence WWJD and what would Jesus do?

And as much as it became a cultural fashion statement, I do believe that there's a good message there.

Like, if I'm doing this, is this something that reflects the character of Jesus Christ?

Is this something that brings glory and honor to Jesus Christ?

Is this something that furthers the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ to those around me?

You know, I get a lot of questions sometimes like, well, is this.

Is this okay for me to do as a Christian?

Is this okay for me?

And.

And we always want to get as close to the line as we can, right?

How much can I do without going over the line and becoming really bad and getting condemned?

Well, the Bible teaches us very clearly that there are things that we can do that aren't necessarily open and open rebellion and sin.

But the Bible says, Paul says all things are lawful, but not all things are expedient or good for me.

Beneficial for me.

So what I would say is this, in the Christlike path.

Yes.

Can Christians go do certain things and get away with it?

Sure.

Yeah.

We know that, biblically speaking, we're forgiven, and that's the blessing of God.

But the true test is not, can I do this?

But should I do this?

And why do I want to do this?

Why do I want to get so close to the line?

Well, I want to get close to the line because I want to have a lot of freedom.

I want to have a lot of joy.

I want to have a lot of passion.

I.

Well, the question would be this.

Why am I not getting joy in the things of God?

Why do I need to go to the things of the world to give me joy?

Because again, I'm living in a way that is not conformed to the image of Christ.

I go back a little bit further and think about this when.

When we.

When we think about our motives, because sometimes we can actually do the right thing.

First Corinthians, chapter three tells us that the good works, the works that we do for God are going to be judged one day.

There's to be judged by the fire.

And the Bible says the things that we do with the right motives will come out like precious stones and gold and silver, but the things that we do for the wrong motives will be like wood, hand stubble, and be caught up in the fire.

So to be Christlike is not just doing the right things that people see, even though that would Be part of it.

But being Christlike is doing the right things with the right motives and the right heart.

Not giving things to people, hoping that they'll give it back, not loving somebody else, because I hope that they love me back.

We come to the Christmas season, and certainly there's a biblical passage in the Book of Acts that says it is better to give than receive.

And I do believe that.

But sometimes we give gifts to people in hopes that it will, like some type of karma, that if I give gifts to people, they'll give gifts back to me.

And the Bible does speak of sowing and reaping.

So.

So if we sow good things, God will give us good things back, but at the same time, it might not be the way that we expect it to be.

You know, I used to think that if I give.

If I give $20 to the church, God's gonna, some way throughout the week, give me $20.

Well, he might, but he might not.

Because it's God's plan.

It's God's purpose.

And so we sow certainly good things, and certainly good things will come back.

But God blesses us, maybe in ways that we don't expect.

Going Back to Romans 8, 28.

And we know all things work together for good.

Well, again, it's not my interpretation of good.

It's not my expectations of good.

It's the expectations of God.

It's.

It's the purpose of God.

So let's move a little bit further here.

Verse 20.

Moreover, whom he did predestinate, he's talking about that group of believers, those ones that he predestinated to be conformed into his image.

Now, some people call this the golden chain of salvation.

And, like, you don't have a choice in this.

This is ultimately God's work.

And I do believe this is ultimately God's work.

But I do believe that we as believers have the responsibility to respond to the call of God in our life.

There are some that say there is no responsibility on you because it is forced upon you.

It is by God's ultimate power.

Now, I believe that we don't save ourselves.

There's something.

And I don't want to get you guys too far down a rabbit trail, but there is something called Pelagianism, which basically teaches that I find God like God's up there in the clouds, and I just want to get.

I. I'm so good that I have cleaned up my life so much that I find God.

That's not what it is.

We can't save ourselves we know that God searches after us.

God's chasing us.

God pursues us.

But at the same time, the Bible speaks of many occasions where people can reject God, and there's that decision to follow God.

And so therefore we have a human responsibility to, to respond to the call of God.

But let me be clear.

Verse number 30 is completely a work of God.

We cannot save ourselves.

We cannot call ourselves, we cannot glorify ourselves.

The Bible says here in verse 30 that those that he predestinated them he also called.

So those that are part of the process of conformity to Christ have a calling.

What's our calling?

Well, some of us could go to Matthew chapter 28 and quote the Great Commission.

We have a calling of God to present the kingdom of God, the gospel of God, to those in this world.

Go and preach the gospel to every creature.

To.

To go into the world and be the light.

You are called to do that.

Now, some people's call might be different than others, like I mentioned before.

Well, was it God's purpose for me to live in California or Florida or, or, or for Texas to Maine?

I don't know.

That's something that you and God have to work out through circumstance and through his guidance.

But I'm going to tell you, there's people in California that are called by God to preach the message of the gospel.

There's people in Texas that are called.

There's people in Delaware that are called.

Wherever you're at, that's where your calling is and where God leads you.

He's going to be there.

And the truth is that as Christians, sometimes we get so stuck in the minutiae of life that we forget that the bigger calling, the greatest calling, is to proclaim Jesus to those around us, wherever we are, whatever stage of life that we're in.

But different people are called in different ways.

Ultimately, the call is to proclaim Jesus Christ.

Some are called to do it behind a pulpit.

Others are called to do it in the workplace.

Others are called to do it in their home.

All of us are called to do it in our home.

Some of us are called to do it through an avenue of a hobby.

Some of us are called to do an avenue through a service project.

But whatever it is, God, it's a calling on our life to proclaim the gospel to those around us.

And so there's the call to glorify God.

There's a call to praise God.

There's a call to proclaim him to those around us.

And so he says, those that are predestinated to be conformed into the image of Christ will proclaim the calling in their life.

All of you have a calling if you're a believer in Jesus Christ this morning.

Okay, I don't need to be prophetic to know that you have a calling in your life.

Now, I might not know what that calling is.

But the truth is, is that all of us have to get to a place in our life where we understand what that call is for us.

The ultimate outcome of that would be proclamation of the Gospel.

But how do I get there?

Well, the Bible says that all of us have a calling, and whom he called them, he also justified.

Again, this is speaking to the place of proclamation of the gospel.

Justified, proclaimed, righteous.

And whom he justified, them he also glorified.

Meaning this.

One day, those that are justified here on this earth will be reunited with their Savior.

And so this is one way to see this passage of scripture.

There are many people that seem this passage of scripture, and they say, oh, this is speaking specifically to those elect that he has called, and that's the only group that can be saved.

And then there's some people over here that God wanted to go to hell.

And I believe that contradicts where it says that he has.

He wants all to come to repentance.

There's many other passages of scripture that I believe that he would proclaim something different there.

But.

But I do want you to understand that as a believer this morning, all of us have the hope of glorification one day.

All of us have the confidence in our justification.

Again, that word, justification means to be declared righteous.

Now, how many of us, if we were honest with ourselves here this morning, would say that I deserve to be declared righteous?

Well, I'm a good person.

I've done a lot of good works in my life.

I'm a church member.

Whatever it is, we have all of our justifications of what makes us a good person.

But the Bible, again and again, this isn't popular.

This isn't something that makes us warm and fuzzy inside.

But again, what did the Bible say?

There is none good.

No, not one.

We are in desperate need of Jesus Christ.

We cannot be more like him without his powerful guidance in our life.

So what I would say is this.

It's not about trying to be a good person.

I've heard a lot of people say, well, Pastor, I'm just trying to be a good person in this world.

I. I understand what we mean by that.

Okay, so.

So I'm not judging you.

If you've said that I've said that.

But it's not about trying to be a good person.

It's trying to be more like Christ.

I want to be like Christ.

I want to die to my flesh.

I'm never going to be perfectly good.

I'm never going to be perfectly holy.

Because it's easy for us to look at our society around us and say, well, we're pretty good people.

We're not for this, we're not for this, we're not for this.

So we're good.

Well, you might be better than the person next to you in your neighborhood.

But again, what's the final standard?

The final standard of goodness is Jesus Christ.

And so we say, I want to be more like Him.

I want to be more like Him.

And how do we be more like Him?

Well, the Bible speaks in many occasions of what that means, but ultimately it starts with faith in Him.

It starts with trusting in his way and his work in our life to get to a place to be more like him and to reach more people, to be a disciple.

So there's, there's belief in God.

There'S faith in God, there's faith in his work.

But the Bible says that In John, chapter 8, verse 31, if you are my disciples, you will continue in My word.

Okay, meaning this.

If we want to be more like Christ, we continue in his word.

We continue in obedience.

My children can say to me all day, dad, I love you, dad.

Dad, I, I, I.

Thank you.

I want.

And maybe it's December and they want Christmas gifts.

That might be what it is, I don't know.

But they could say they love me.

But really, what's the true test of whether or not they love me?

The true test is, do they obey?

The true test is, do they submit to the authority at hand?

Dad, I love you, but I don't want to go to bed on time.

Dad, I love you, but I don't want to wake up in the morning.

Your ways aren't the right way.

So.

So, for it's all the children here today.

The way that we show that we love our parents, the way that we show that we love God, all of us adults is by obedience to him, submitting our desires over to his desires.

So for a child.

Okay, I'll go to bed.

Even though I don't want to go to bed.

Because why my Father wants me to.

Because he loves me.

And I know what's best.

He knows what's best.

The same thing with our Heavenly Father.

For us as adults.

God says, do this.

And we go, no but you don't understand.

I can't do that.

I don't want that.

That's not good for me.

We trust in him and say, lord, that's what we believe.

That you are good, that you care for me, that you want what's best for me.

That you know all things.

And it's faith in believing that.

So really, the true test is faith.

The true test is whether or not I'm able to believe that God is who I say he is.

And believe if God.

If God says that he is this, that I believe that he is true.

And I want you to think about that here this morning.

When it comes to the way that we live our lives.

I struggle sometimes with trust.

I struggle sometimes with the idea that maybe this situation in my life proves that God doesn't love me.

But at the end of the day, I have to go to the bigger picture and say, yes.

Romans 8:28.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

I would encourage you to have that verse memorized.

I would encourage you to think about that verse in the good and in sometimes in the bad.

I want you to think about the times in your life where it's easy to praise God.

And I want you to think in times of your life when it's not easy to praise God.

And then that's what the Bible is there for.

The Bible is there for us to have a storehouse of wisdom and blessings when it is difficult, like when we have plenty in our lives.

Think about Joseph.

Remember Joseph?

There was a time where there was this great food all in Egypt, and everyone was.

But he knew because of God's plan in his life that there would be a famine.

So we need to have that storehouse of wisdom with us in our lives.

Because we don't know when that next spiritual famine is going to come.

We don't know when that next season of trial will come.

And sometimes going to God in the midst of the trial is more difficult because we don't have that storehouse of blessing in our life to know that, hey, you know what?

God is there with me through all of this.

That.

That God.

God does love me.

That God does care for me.

And so what I would encourage you to do now, even if you're in a season of blessing, even if you're in the season of excess and abundance with spiritual nature, go to him.

Go to the word of God now so that you can have the fuel for the trials that might come in the future to be prepared for that.

And so to be conformed into the image of his Son means to die to the desires of this world, to know that he wants all to come to Him.

First Peter, excuse me.

Second Peter, Chapter three, verse nine.

The Lord is not slack concerning his promises.

He's patient towards us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Because sometimes it's easy to think about God in certain ways.

And we'll talk more about this when we get to Romans chapter 9.

Some of you have.

You know, biblical literacy.

You'll know that Romans chapter 9 is A.

Is a very difficult passage for many to interpret because it speaks of certain things that seem contradictory to many other aspects of God and other passages of Scripture.

But again, we have to look at the Bible through the lens of the whole context of God's character.

And we know that other passages of Scripture will tell us that God does love all, not love all the same way.

Because by the way, God doesn't love the unsaved person the same way that he loves his child.

I think that's very clear to understand.

Very, very clear to understand.

A love of a father is unique to his child.

But at the same time, God loves the world.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.

The gift is extended to all.

And some say, well, God's powerful enough.

Why doesn't he just save everybody?

Because again, it's that matter of choice.

Because with love comes a choice.

I mentioned this last week.

If everyone's forced to do something, is it love?

Well, I would argue that it's not.

I would argue that some people say, well, why is there evil in the world?

If there's a God, why doesn't he just stop all evil?

Because we would not know good without evil.

Evil is the absence of good.

Darkness is the absence of light.

And so God is not deterministic in that way, even though he could be.

I believe that God has allowed us, because of his love for us, to make the decision to love Him.

Right.

God is pursuing a love relationship with us.

But with that comes evil.

With that comes so children, no blessing comes loss.

Like, if we don't have loss, we don't know what blessing is.

We don't know what it means to have something good if we've never had a loss.

And I think some of us would even understand more that loss and struggles can actually bring us more of an appreciation for the good things that we have in our life.

I Don't know about you, but I never appreciative of my good health until my health is taken away from me.

Right?

I mean, like when I'm feeling good, I'm just taking it for granted.

It's when I have a pain in my side of a kidney stone and I'm doubled over and I'm going, lord, I'll do anything just to take away this pain.

I'm making every promise that I ever can make because in that moment, I understand what I did have in that good health.

And so for us to understand that there is another side of things here is so, so very important.

We're told to preach the word in season and out of season.

We're called to worship God in the good and in what we would say is not so good circumstances.

And so I would encourage you to think about that here this morning as we conclude.

I think about this often.

I think about.

There was a very prominent Christian figure recently that came out with the viewpoint that, you know, there really isn't any punishment after death.

If you're a sinner, this is annihilation.

God just wipes you out.

And, and, and I caution us to say that because that, that's, that's not biblical.

Biblical.

Biblically speaking, there is a place of torment, there is a place of punishment.

And if we don't preach both sides of the coin, if I don't preach, if I only preach things about goodness and never preach evil, we have a big issue.

If I only preach heaven and I never preach about the opposite of heaven, there's a big issue with that.

Now.

Now, if I only preach about hell constantly, there would be a problem there because it would be a gross oversimplification of the whole story of God.

But when we preach the whole scope of Scripture, we have to preach to people that there's this, there is the blessing of salvation, but there is also the punishment of hell.

There is a punishment of rebellion.

God has every right to punish every single one of us.

Every single one of us.

But the beauty of our Christian faith is that he doesn't.

He gives us an opportunity to find grace, to find hope.

Now, the hope isn't him.

The hope is right here in front of all of us.

God isn't hiding his word.

God isn't hiding his work.

God isn't hiding his miracles.

And so what we have to think about here is it's not, I found God as much as he found me, and I respond to him.

That's really what it is.

And so I want you to Think about that when it comes to salvation.

I might not have changed your opinion of Romans, chapter 8.

But what I will say is in this passage of Scripture that I do believe that it is clear that, yes, God does predestinate us for a specific purpose.

God does call us.

That call is upon our lives.

We can't avoid that call.

We can't avoid these things that we see in Scripture.

But what we also understand that as Christians, is that we have the responsibility to follow him and to take the steps of conformity, to be more like Christ so that we can understand fully in this life what it means to know justification, what it means to know our call, what it means to ultimately hope for the glorification that is to come for us in this world.

And so I want you to meditate upon that here this week as we get into the Christmas season.

There are certainly things that we can think about when it comes to Jesus coming to this earth.

But I want you to see Christmas more than just a good time.

When Jesus comes as a baby in the manger, even though we are thankful for the fact that he came as a baby in the manger.

And brother Jeff sang that wonderful song today, Born to die.

God, God's plan.

He's not limited by space and time, but we know that it was God's plan for Jesus to come as a babe, as a, as a child, but didn't.

But that wasn't the end of the story.

Story was, is that baby would grow up.

And the Bible says that he grew in wisdom and stature and favor with God and man.

And Jesus grew and physically and, and some would argue it says right there, favor with God and man.

So he grew in his understanding of his calling.

And, and there's a lot of questions about when did Jesus understand that?

When did he not understand that?

I don't want to get into that rabbit trail, but we know that Jesus, at the right time, knew exactly what he was supposed to do.

He had a choice to make.

He had a choice.

I. I believe Jesus had a choice.

But at the end of the day, he obeyed the Father.

He submitted to the will of the Father and did the work of the Father.

And therefore that comes to us in our life, the same, same principle to be Christlike.

Ultimately, ultimately, okay, if we were to boil everything down to one aspect of Jesus, it's.

He submitted himself to the will of God.

That's what it means for us to be completely Christlike.

Will we be perfect in that?

No.

But what I will say is that to be more Christlike means to be more and more submissive to the will of God and our life.

If you have a struggle with perceiving the will of God, well, how does that work?

Receiving the will of God starts with indwelling of the Spirit and being sensitive to the Spirit's call in your life.

To be sensitive to the Spirit's conviction in your life, to be spent sensitive to the Spirit's comfort in your life.

But at the same time, it's in agreement with the word of God.

And to be in agreement with the Word of God.

I don't think this is a big jump for me to say to be in agreement with the word of God.

We must know the Word of God.

We must be in the Word of God.

If I'm ignorant to what the word of God says, I will never be able to obey it.

Some say, well, I just.

I can't.

I'm starting too late in life.

I've got too much in front of me.

Let me tell you, you can read this book every single day of your life and you will still learn and you will.

You will never reach the bottom of the well, of the wisdom and the guidance and the power of this book.

It's alive.

So you say, I just started reading the Bible.

We'll keep reading it and every single day you're going to get blessings from it.

You're going to get teachings from it.

Well, I've read through it a hundred times.

We'll read through it 101.

You're still going to get something out of it, I guarantee you.

That's the beauty of it.

And so I would encourage you, if you are not in the word of God, get in the Word of God.

You say, well, how much should I read?

And I.

And I hate to say this, but it's kind of sarcastic, but it's kind of true.

More.

I read five minutes a day.

We'll try to read six minutes a day.

I read an hour a day.

Old read two hours a day.

Whatever, whatever God allows for you to do, put this as a priority in your life.

Because this allows us to know the heart of God.

This allows us to allow the Spirit to speak to us.

And therefore we grow and we learn and we become more and more Christlike.

I don't know about you, but when I feel the flesh rearing itself in my life, let's say, for example, for me, you know what?

You know what happens to me when the flesh comes up?

I feel this warmth and this heat and this anger and I want to make it my way.

Right?

Okay.

So someone says something against me, I want to do everything that I possibly can to make that person feel this small.

That's my flesh.

Some of you are acting really spiritual and say, I've never tried to do that before.

Well, you've got another.

You've got other issues, too.

We all have special issues.

But when you feel that coming, when you perceive that happening in your life, the Bible says to die to that and ask God to give you wisdom and patience and strength and do what Christ would do in that situation.

Sometimes it's not what we want, but I would encourage you to pray about that and ask God to give you the wisdom and strength to do what he has called you to do in your life.

Well, I'm going to ask everyone to stand with me, every head bowed, every eye closed as the music plays.

We're going to have a time of invitation.

And the invitation, as always, will be starting with salvation.

You cannot be conformed to the image of Christ.

You cannot claim that you are justified.

You cannot claim glorification without having a relationship with Christ in faith.

So I would challenge you here this morning.

Where is your faith placed?

Is it placed in the church?

Is it placed in your works?

Is it placed in anything outside of the person and work of Jesus Christ?

If it is.

The Bible says that today can be the day of salvation.

To put your faith in Jesus.

Put your faith in the work that he performed on the cross, by paying the debt for your sins and by conquering death through the resurrection so that you might have life.

That's where we put our faith.

It's a simple proclamation of faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

The Bible says to repent, to turn away from our old ways, to turn away from our old standards and say, I'm turning to Christ.

That's something that you need this morning.

Turn to him.

Come to him in faith.

It'd be the greatest decision that you could ever make, because now you're part of a family.

You're part of the family of God.

You now have a call, you now have a purpose.

You now have righteousness.

You now have hope in the eternal.

But if you're the believer today, if you said, I believe, it might have been a while ago, it might have been recently.

But at the same time, all of us sometimes can be tempted in our life to drift away from the call that God has for us, to forget that he has a purpose for us and that as he has the purpose for us, he's with us through it.

Well, that's.

That's what Romans 8:31 and the rest of the chapter is all about.

That he will never leave us nor forsake us.

That nothing can separate us from the love of God.

And sometimes we're doubting whether or not God is working his best for us.

But I would encourage you to trust in him and to know that as he has given you that purpose in your life, he is going to be there with you through it, through the ups and through the downs, through the sickness and through the health, through the filling and through the emptiness.

He is there with you so that you can know that he loves you.

And that's the confirmation of the Spirit.

And so if you're here this morning, you're a believer.

But you've been struggling with your purpose, you've been struggling with direction, you've been struggling with hope.

Go back to what you know, that he loves you and that he never forsakes those that he is.

He is trusted that we have trusted in him and given us grace.

And so here this morning, if you need that revitalization in your life, that reminder of the call that, that revitalization of the Spirit, I pray that here today you can find that in him and him alone, to be Christ like that's our standard, the only standard is Christ.

And to be Christlike means to need him and desire him more and more daily.

Lord, I pray that you be in this time of invitation, work in the hearts and lives of those that are here today.

I pray that there's someone here today that needs you as Savior, that today can be that day of salvation.

I pray that you work in this time.

In Jesus name.

Amen.

Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church podcast.

I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you.

If you would like to find out more information about our church or this sermon, you can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org or find us on Facebook or YouTube.

You can also email me directly at joshmissaro at Middletown Baptist Church church.com if you've enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and follow along for future podcast and updates.

Thank you so much.

God bless.

Have a wonderful day.