WEBVTT 00:00:01.480 --> 00:00:04.960 Thank you ensemble for ministering for us tonight 00:00:04.960 --> 00:00:07.919 Would you open your Bible please to the book 00:00:07.919 --> 00:00:14.460 of Romans the eighth chapter Because last week 00:00:14.460 --> 00:00:17.760 it was noted in the newspaper that Queen Elizabeth 00:00:17.760 --> 00:00:21.519 Named former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher 00:00:21.519 --> 00:00:26.379 to the Order of Merit Which is the highest honor 00:00:26.379 --> 00:00:30.519 in Britain similar I suppose to a our Medal of 00:00:30.519 --> 00:00:34.500 Honor here in the United States. And at the same 00:00:34.500 --> 00:00:37.259 time, she made her husband, Dennis Thatcher, 00:00:37.719 --> 00:00:42.259 a baronet. Isn't that exciting? A baronet is 00:00:42.259 --> 00:00:44.920 near the bottom of the royal hierarchy between 00:00:44.920 --> 00:00:47.780 a knight and a baron. Sounds something like a 00:00:47.780 --> 00:00:51.960 chess game. But it says that because of this, 00:00:52.020 --> 00:00:57.719 he can be known now as Sir Dennis. And she may 00:00:57.719 --> 00:01:04.099 be known as Lady Margaret. And the title for 00:01:04.099 --> 00:01:07.819 her husband is inherited and so their son can 00:01:07.819 --> 00:01:10.879 be known as Sir Mark, although their daughter 00:01:10.879 --> 00:01:13.700 cannot inherit a title so she's just plain Carol 00:01:13.700 --> 00:01:20.319 it says. Titles. The title that is given to Jesus 00:01:20.319 --> 00:01:23.000 Christ that we're studying is so much more important 00:01:23.000 --> 00:01:25.620 than the title bestowed by the Queen of England. 00:01:26.890 --> 00:01:32.069 It is a title given by God, the title Firstborn. 00:01:33.430 --> 00:01:37.109 The highest place, the position of preeminence, 00:01:37.930 --> 00:01:41.950 the privileges of the honored Son, they all belong 00:01:41.950 --> 00:01:45.489 to Jesus Christ. Unger's Bible Dictionary says 00:01:45.489 --> 00:01:49.189 the expression Firstborn stands for that which 00:01:49.189 --> 00:01:56.010 is most excellent. This title deals with Christ's 00:01:56.010 --> 00:02:01.049 honored position as the eternal Son of God. It 00:02:01.049 --> 00:02:06.530 expresses His dignity, His nobility, His majesty, 00:02:07.469 --> 00:02:11.550 all of which are uniquely His. There are other 00:02:11.550 --> 00:02:15.710 dignitaries, there are other nobles in our world, 00:02:15.789 --> 00:02:19.949 there are other majesties, but His is unique 00:02:19.949 --> 00:02:24.650 among them all. He is the firstborn. And tonight 00:02:24.650 --> 00:02:29.409 in Romans 8 .29, we see another aspect of that 00:02:29.409 --> 00:02:33.509 title. It says, for whom he foreknew he also 00:02:33.509 --> 00:02:37.469 predestined to become conformed to the image 00:02:37.469 --> 00:02:42.909 of his son, that he might be the firstborn among 00:02:42.909 --> 00:02:47.870 many brethren. The association of this title, 00:02:48.189 --> 00:02:52.129 firstborn, with the phrase among many brethren, 00:02:52.590 --> 00:02:57.710 means that Jesus Christ is the leader, the sovereign, 00:02:58.930 --> 00:03:04.090 the Lord, if you please, of the redeemed. It 00:03:04.090 --> 00:03:06.889 seems to me that in the context of Romans 8 .29, 00:03:07.009 --> 00:03:09.669 there are several thoughts that come to mind 00:03:09.669 --> 00:03:14.849 regarding this fraternity of many brethren. First, 00:03:14.909 --> 00:03:18.050 think with me about the privilege of this fraternity 00:03:18.050 --> 00:03:20.990 that is called many brethren, the firstborn among 00:03:20.990 --> 00:03:26.039 many brethren. What grace this is that you and 00:03:26.039 --> 00:03:31.479 I should be called Christ's brethren And yet 00:03:31.479 --> 00:03:36.159 that is a name that he himself gives to us Turn 00:03:36.159 --> 00:03:39.159 with me, please to the resurrection passage of 00:03:39.159 --> 00:03:46.000 John 20 the Gospel of John the 20th chapter Here 00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:51.599 Jesus speaks to Mary You remember that she tarried 00:03:51.599 --> 00:03:57.060 outside the tomb And he spoke with her. She did 00:03:57.060 --> 00:04:00.939 not recognize at first that it was he. And then 00:04:00.939 --> 00:04:04.240 he called her name. And immediately she recognized 00:04:04.240 --> 00:04:08.919 that this was her teacher. And in verse 17 of 00:04:08.919 --> 00:04:11.879 John 20, Jesus said to her, stop clinging to 00:04:11.879 --> 00:04:15.860 me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. 00:04:16.920 --> 00:04:21.879 But go to my brethren and say to them, I ascend 00:04:21.879 --> 00:04:26.600 to my Father. and your father and my God and 00:04:26.600 --> 00:04:30.899 your God. The Lord Jesus referred to his early 00:04:30.899 --> 00:04:36.800 disciples and through them he refers to us as 00:04:36.800 --> 00:04:41.240 his brethren. And he said, I am ascending to 00:04:41.240 --> 00:04:44.899 my father, your father, my God and your God. 00:04:46.100 --> 00:04:50.079 Notice he does not say to our father and our 00:04:50.079 --> 00:04:54.730 God. Because we call God father in a bit of a 00:04:54.730 --> 00:04:57.610 different sense than Jesus does and he is our 00:04:57.610 --> 00:05:00.269 God in a bit of a different sense and yet we 00:05:00.269 --> 00:05:04.129 both call him father and We both call him God 00:05:04.129 --> 00:05:09.250 and Jesus calls us in that sense his brothers 00:05:09.250 --> 00:05:12.870 And then again in the book of Hebrews the second 00:05:12.870 --> 00:05:17.889 chapter we see this same Idea the same wording 00:05:17.889 --> 00:05:21.310 put into the mouth of Jesus Christ in quoting 00:05:21.310 --> 00:05:29.750 from the Psalms, Hebrews chapter 2. In verse 00:05:29.750 --> 00:05:32.689 10, it speaks about our Lord's work in bringing 00:05:32.689 --> 00:05:36.089 many sons to glory. And then in verse 11, it 00:05:36.089 --> 00:05:39.769 says, for both he who sanctifies and those who 00:05:39.769 --> 00:05:45.370 are sanctified are all from one father, for which 00:05:45.370 --> 00:05:50.250 reason he is not ashamed. to call them brethren, 00:05:51.089 --> 00:05:54.889 saying, I will proclaim thy name to my brethren. 00:05:55.470 --> 00:05:58.810 In the midst of the congregation, I will sing 00:05:58.810 --> 00:06:03.110 thy praise." Here he is speaking about his joy 00:06:03.110 --> 00:06:08.170 as the risen Messiah and Christ, and he is speaking 00:06:08.170 --> 00:06:11.170 about his joy being in the midst of the church. 00:06:12.620 --> 00:06:16.480 And he says, I will proclaim thy name to my brethren 00:06:16.480 --> 00:06:19.579 in the midst of the congregation, he says, I 00:06:19.579 --> 00:06:23.620 will sing thy praise. In verse 14, it goes on 00:06:23.620 --> 00:06:26.879 to say, since then the children share in flesh 00:06:26.879 --> 00:06:30.980 and blood, that's a phrase that means genuine 00:06:30.980 --> 00:06:37.339 humanity, he himself likewise also partook of 00:06:37.339 --> 00:06:42.470 the same. What this tells us is that Jesus Christ 00:06:42.470 --> 00:06:46.430 became truly human, the miracle of the incarnation, 00:06:47.089 --> 00:06:52.509 the Christmas story. This word partook means 00:06:52.509 --> 00:06:55.829 that he partook of that which was not naturally 00:06:55.829 --> 00:07:01.269 his own kind. He partook of something that was 00:07:01.269 --> 00:07:06.509 by nature foreign to him, that is humanity, flesh 00:07:06.509 --> 00:07:10.870 and blood. Eternal spirit was his nature and 00:07:10.870 --> 00:07:14.790 is his nature. And yet in coming into the world, 00:07:14.910 --> 00:07:17.829 he partook of that which was not naturally his, 00:07:18.490 --> 00:07:22.430 but which he created, humanity, flesh and blood. 00:07:23.129 --> 00:07:27.449 And so the eternal God joined himself to full 00:07:27.449 --> 00:07:33.009 humanity. In doing so, organically and genetically, 00:07:33.889 --> 00:07:37.670 he now is fully related. to the race of Adam. 00:07:40.850 --> 00:07:45.569 He calls us brethren. As we said last week, I 00:07:45.569 --> 00:07:49.689 think it was, the word brother means out of the 00:07:49.689 --> 00:07:54.290 same womb. And being used in the plural as it 00:07:54.290 --> 00:07:59.670 is in our text in Romans 829, brethren, it signals 00:07:59.670 --> 00:08:04.509 a community, says Vine in his dictionary, a community. 00:08:04.800 --> 00:08:10.899 based on identity of origin and life. We are 00:08:10.899 --> 00:08:16.120 brethren. We are a community of people, and that's 00:08:16.120 --> 00:08:21.139 one reason that in our statement of mission we 00:08:21.139 --> 00:08:26.339 call ourselves a community of believers. There 00:08:26.339 --> 00:08:29.959 is some diversity among us, but there is one 00:08:29.959 --> 00:08:33.000 thing that we share in common, and that is our 00:08:33.000 --> 00:08:37.980 origin of life. We are from the same womb of 00:08:37.980 --> 00:08:42.580 God, if you please. We are brothers. Yet it is 00:08:42.580 --> 00:08:45.179 not merely in a natural relationship that Jesus 00:08:45.179 --> 00:08:47.559 called us brethren, though he is truly human 00:08:47.559 --> 00:08:52.080 as we are, but in a spiritual relationship. Because 00:08:52.080 --> 00:08:55.440 in coming into the world he became representative 00:08:55.440 --> 00:09:00.720 man. He is the Lord from heaven. He is the last 00:09:00.720 --> 00:09:05.720 Adam. The dictionary of New Testament theology 00:09:05.720 --> 00:09:10.360 says this regarding our text. Romans 8 .29 makes 00:09:10.360 --> 00:09:15.059 it clear that this new standing as brothers has 00:09:15.059 --> 00:09:18.360 been made possible by the firstborn of brothers, 00:09:18.679 --> 00:09:22.639 Jesus Christ, who died for them all. Because 00:09:22.639 --> 00:09:26.919 he became our brother, we are brothers among 00:09:26.919 --> 00:09:32.149 ourselves. Here in the North, it's not too common 00:09:32.149 --> 00:09:36.389 to refer to each other as brother, but that's 00:09:36.389 --> 00:09:41.570 very common in the South. In our church, most 00:09:41.570 --> 00:09:44.470 of us go on a first -name basis, which I think 00:09:44.470 --> 00:09:47.470 is fine, but in the South, where things are maybe 00:09:47.470 --> 00:09:51.450 a little more formal in some senses, you are 00:09:51.450 --> 00:09:54.690 called brother so -and -so or sister so -and 00:09:54.690 --> 00:09:59.009 -so. Well, it is the fact that Jesus Christ became 00:09:59.009 --> 00:10:02.590 our brother that enables us to be brothers and 00:10:02.590 --> 00:10:06.809 sisters in the family of God. We don't often 00:10:06.809 --> 00:10:10.669 sing about this particular concept of being a 00:10:10.669 --> 00:10:13.490 brother. There is one hymn, however, that does 00:10:13.490 --> 00:10:17.570 talk about Christ our elder brother. It's a very 00:10:17.570 --> 00:10:19.850 uncommon hymn. I happen to know about it because 00:10:19.850 --> 00:10:23.389 it is the school song of Moody Bible Institute. 00:10:23.690 --> 00:10:26.629 It's a song that causes tears to come to the 00:10:26.629 --> 00:10:29.129 eyes of our staff whenever we sing it in staff 00:10:29.129 --> 00:10:33.049 meetings. They are deeply moved by this school 00:10:33.049 --> 00:10:38.570 song. Right, Paul? Amen. Now, our staff knows 00:10:38.570 --> 00:10:43.450 by heart the last verse. But the first verse 00:10:43.450 --> 00:10:46.090 of this hymn that's entitled, One with the Lord, 00:10:46.169 --> 00:10:49.529 which was written by James M. Gray, says this. 00:10:50.710 --> 00:10:54.259 One with the Lord. and one with one another, 00:10:55.220 --> 00:10:59.500 joined by our faith to Christ, the elder brother. 00:11:00.659 --> 00:11:04.860 Blessed is our fellowship, ever growing fonder, 00:11:05.559 --> 00:11:10.220 promise of better things in glory over yonder. 00:11:11.019 --> 00:11:16.700 Christ, our elder brother. And what grace is 00:11:16.700 --> 00:11:19.580 found in this word many? He is the firstborn 00:11:19.580 --> 00:11:24.580 among many. Brethren, it says. Many share this 00:11:24.580 --> 00:11:29.139 honor. By nature, all of us deserve to be damned 00:11:29.139 --> 00:11:37.460 by our sin, but God intervened. God in His grace 00:11:37.460 --> 00:11:41.059 has delivered us from what we justly deserve 00:11:41.059 --> 00:11:45.240 that we might be called the brothers of Jesus 00:11:45.240 --> 00:11:50.340 Christ. Many brothers. The number of the redeemed 00:11:50.340 --> 00:11:55.039 will ultimately fill the New Jerusalem. There 00:11:55.039 --> 00:11:59.679 will be no empty places, nor will there be anyone 00:11:59.679 --> 00:12:04.360 without a room. There are no extra rooms. The 00:12:04.360 --> 00:12:09.679 fullness of the elect will occupy the home that 00:12:09.679 --> 00:12:13.960 God is preparing for his family. And he says 00:12:13.960 --> 00:12:18.899 that there will be many. And so what privilege 00:12:18.899 --> 00:12:22.659 it is for you and for me to be numbered among 00:12:22.659 --> 00:12:27.559 those who are in this fraternity. What a privilege. 00:12:28.519 --> 00:12:30.879 But then think with me as we look at our context 00:12:30.879 --> 00:12:34.980 here in Romans chapter eight regarding the plan 00:12:34.980 --> 00:12:40.120 for this fraternity. He mentions that Jesus Christ 00:12:40.120 --> 00:12:43.080 is the firstborn among many brethren, but before 00:12:43.080 --> 00:12:47.629 that, It says, whom he foreknew, he also predestined 00:12:47.629 --> 00:12:52.350 to become conformed to the image of his son. 00:12:52.590 --> 00:12:57.269 There's the plan you see. God's ultimate purpose 00:12:57.269 --> 00:13:03.570 in redemption is a humanity that will rule and 00:13:03.570 --> 00:13:07.970 reign over the new creation. A humanity which 00:13:07.970 --> 00:13:12.769 will be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. 00:13:14.090 --> 00:13:17.309 In this word conform, there are two thoughts 00:13:17.309 --> 00:13:21.590 that I want to point out. First of all, this 00:13:21.590 --> 00:13:26.509 conformity is inward and not merely superficial. 00:13:28.970 --> 00:13:34.230 It has to do with the deepest part of us, the 00:13:34.230 --> 00:13:38.029 essence of who we really are in our identity. 00:13:38.970 --> 00:13:43.820 It's inward. We are being conformed. We Christians 00:13:43.820 --> 00:13:47.580 are not who we were born to be. We are somebody 00:13:47.580 --> 00:13:52.379 else. We are new persons and Every day God is 00:13:52.379 --> 00:13:55.720 at work in our lives Conforming us further to 00:13:55.720 --> 00:13:58.240 the image of Christ this morning. We look at 00:13:58.240 --> 00:14:01.779 2nd Corinthians 318 Where it says that we are 00:14:01.779 --> 00:14:04.120 being changed and there as I pointed out the 00:14:04.120 --> 00:14:07.559 word is our English word Metamorphosis it means 00:14:07.559 --> 00:14:11.120 to change the inward reality to something else 00:14:12.909 --> 00:14:18.210 This is depicted in a moving way in one of the 00:14:18.210 --> 00:14:21.710 video tapes that we recommended to you a few 00:14:21.710 --> 00:14:24.509 weeks ago from the Moody Inspirational series. 00:14:25.450 --> 00:14:27.269 I don't know if any of you have purchased those 00:14:27.269 --> 00:14:28.990 videos that have been available in our bookstore, 00:14:29.110 --> 00:14:33.690 but there is one of them that deals with peace 00:14:33.690 --> 00:14:39.610 and in there is a section of video that captures 00:14:40.399 --> 00:14:45.340 the beauty of the monarch butterfly. And through 00:14:45.340 --> 00:14:51.799 time photography they show a cocoon in which 00:14:51.799 --> 00:14:54.740 there is this creature that is going through 00:14:54.740 --> 00:14:58.120 the process of metamorphosis. And then they show 00:14:58.120 --> 00:15:03.720 this beautiful butterfly bursting out of the 00:15:03.720 --> 00:15:06.440 shell in which it lived. It did not enter the 00:15:06.440 --> 00:15:10.679 shell as a butterfly, it entered as a caterpillar. 00:15:12.759 --> 00:15:19.080 But over the process of time, there was an inward 00:15:19.080 --> 00:15:22.639 change so that the very reality of that creature 00:15:22.639 --> 00:15:28.059 was altered, and it came out while the same little 00:15:28.059 --> 00:15:31.100 creature in a different form. That's what God's 00:15:31.100 --> 00:15:35.379 doing to you and me. Our bodies are like a cocoon. 00:15:36.679 --> 00:15:40.480 And inside of us, God is working a miracle of 00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:46.340 confirmation, transforming us to the very likeness 00:15:46.340 --> 00:15:53.559 of Jesus Christ. What an amazing thing. This 00:15:53.559 --> 00:15:56.279 conformity is inward and not merely superficial. 00:15:57.299 --> 00:16:01.240 This conformity is complete and not merely partial. 00:16:03.259 --> 00:16:06.059 It's starting on the inside. But as we suggested 00:16:06.059 --> 00:16:08.500 this morning, someday it is going to completely 00:16:08.500 --> 00:16:17.000 consume us. In a moment, in a transforming moment, 00:16:17.179 --> 00:16:22.360 our bodies are going to be changed. And if the 00:16:22.360 --> 00:16:25.480 Lord calls us home before that moment of Christ's 00:16:25.480 --> 00:16:28.879 return in the rapture and our bodies are laid 00:16:28.879 --> 00:16:31.539 into the grave and they begin to disintegrate 00:16:31.539 --> 00:16:34.139 and the atoms of our bodies then go back into 00:16:34.139 --> 00:16:39.299 dust. In an instant of time, at one day, some 00:16:39.299 --> 00:16:42.500 future day, at the sound of the trumpet, those 00:16:42.500 --> 00:16:45.779 atoms are going to be brought back together, 00:16:45.799 --> 00:16:51.620 but in a different form. And that form is going 00:16:51.620 --> 00:16:55.500 to be like the body of Jesus itself. And out 00:16:55.500 --> 00:17:02.580 from the grave will come a new creature, a transformed 00:17:02.580 --> 00:17:07.880 body. a spiritual body. Just as we have borne 00:17:07.880 --> 00:17:12.559 the image of the earthy, we shall bear the image 00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:18.319 of the heavenly. Never will we become deity, 00:17:19.599 --> 00:17:22.799 but we will truly be conformed to the likeness 00:17:22.799 --> 00:17:28.259 of Jesus Christ. And God's lifetime purpose for 00:17:28.259 --> 00:17:32.579 us is to take every circumstance that we go through 00:17:32.579 --> 00:17:36.180 in life and to use that toward that end. That's 00:17:36.180 --> 00:17:40.180 what Romans 8 28 is all about. We know that God 00:17:40.180 --> 00:17:43.660 causes all things to work together for good to 00:17:43.660 --> 00:17:47.579 those who love God, to those who are called according 00:17:47.579 --> 00:17:53.180 to his purpose, and this is his purpose. Every 00:17:53.180 --> 00:17:56.900 circumstance of life is cooperating and working 00:17:56.900 --> 00:17:59.920 together toward God's ultimate purpose. The suffering 00:17:59.920 --> 00:18:05.079 we go through has sanctifying value. It is part 00:18:05.079 --> 00:18:09.460 of the 2 Corinthians 3, 18 experience where we 00:18:09.460 --> 00:18:12.460 are being changed from one level of glory to 00:18:12.460 --> 00:18:15.420 another and to another and to another. That is 00:18:15.420 --> 00:18:18.940 God's purpose. How wonderful that God is able 00:18:18.940 --> 00:18:23.160 to take every experience of life and use it toward 00:18:23.160 --> 00:18:25.720 that end. That's the plan for the fraternity. 00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:30.180 What a privilege we have to be a part of it. 00:18:30.200 --> 00:18:32.740 This is God's plan. Finally, let's look at the 00:18:32.740 --> 00:18:36.720 process of the fraternity, where there are five 00:18:36.720 --> 00:18:42.200 acts of God in salvation that forms the Brotherhood, 00:18:43.279 --> 00:18:47.920 this fraternity of believers. Salvation is here 00:18:47.920 --> 00:18:50.420 in these verses looked at from God's perspective, 00:18:50.599 --> 00:18:54.420 not man's. Man's is surely mentioned in the book 00:18:54.420 --> 00:18:57.660 of Romans, where the emphasis is upon faith. 00:18:58.799 --> 00:19:02.539 and faith alone being the means whereby salvation 00:19:02.539 --> 00:19:09.160 becomes ours. But here he emphasizes God's acts 00:19:09.160 --> 00:19:15.380 in saving us. He says in verse 29, for whom he 00:19:15.380 --> 00:19:20.160 foreknew. There's the first act, God foreknew. 00:19:20.839 --> 00:19:23.839 The word means more than that God knew, had knowledge, 00:19:23.920 --> 00:19:27.190 or knew ahead of time. The idea behind it is 00:19:27.190 --> 00:19:31.930 that God chose or God appointed. The apostle 00:19:31.930 --> 00:19:36.630 is here looking at God's elective decision. The 00:19:36.630 --> 00:19:39.609 same word is used in 1 Peter 1 .20 regarding 00:19:39.609 --> 00:19:43.009 Christ who was foreknown before the foundation 00:19:43.009 --> 00:19:47.109 of the world, that is chosen by God to be his 00:19:47.109 --> 00:19:52.509 lamb, his sacrifice before the foundation of 00:19:52.509 --> 00:19:57.599 the world. Salvation is not left to chance. It 00:19:57.599 --> 00:20:05.619 is not haphazard. It is not detached. It is the 00:20:05.619 --> 00:20:11.339 act of God's initiative. And the whole idea behind 00:20:11.339 --> 00:20:20.259 God foreknowing is full of warmth and love. The 00:20:20.259 --> 00:20:27.490 idea of knowing. is the idea of intimate relationship. 00:20:28.789 --> 00:20:32.549 As in the Old Testament, two people would know 00:20:32.549 --> 00:20:34.829 each other, a man and a woman would know each 00:20:34.829 --> 00:20:40.329 other. And here it says that God in the same 00:20:40.329 --> 00:20:47.650 sort of intimacy and love has foreknown us. He 00:20:47.650 --> 00:20:54.799 has chosen us to be His own. It is a love that 00:20:54.799 --> 00:20:58.099 expresses intimate relationship with another. 00:20:59.160 --> 00:21:03.740 That's how God has known us. The second act of 00:21:03.740 --> 00:21:06.119 God is found in the next word there, for whom 00:21:06.119 --> 00:21:12.700 he foreknew he also predestined. Predestination 00:21:12.700 --> 00:21:16.000 always in the scripture has to do with God's 00:21:16.000 --> 00:21:21.549 children. It is incorrect. to say that God has 00:21:21.549 --> 00:21:24.730 predestined people to be lost, although there 00:21:24.730 --> 00:21:27.609 are people who have gone to that extreme in their 00:21:27.609 --> 00:21:33.250 doctrine. That is incorrect. Predestination always 00:21:33.250 --> 00:21:36.809 has to do with salvation, and it is for the children 00:21:36.809 --> 00:21:40.089 of God. The idea is that those whom God has chosen, 00:21:40.369 --> 00:21:44.609 he is also predestined. The word predestined, 00:21:44.630 --> 00:21:48.509 that verb means to mark out with a boundary ahead 00:21:48.509 --> 00:21:53.980 of time. And the idea is that God has predestined 00:21:53.980 --> 00:21:57.319 that those who have been chosen will without 00:21:57.319 --> 00:22:04.880 fail one day be just like Jesus Christ. Nothing 00:22:04.880 --> 00:22:09.500 less than that. And not one missing whom God 00:22:09.500 --> 00:22:13.380 has chosen. For everyone who has been chosen 00:22:13.380 --> 00:22:18.039 by God is predestined by God to be conformed 00:22:18.039 --> 00:22:24.809 to Christ's image. Now those two acts of God 00:22:24.809 --> 00:22:28.430 occurred from our perspective before we were 00:22:28.430 --> 00:22:34.230 born, before we came into the world. But the 00:22:34.230 --> 00:22:37.529 next three acts of God from our perspective occurred 00:22:37.529 --> 00:22:40.910 during our lifetime. The next one is verse 30, 00:22:40.910 --> 00:22:46.390 whom he predestined, these he also called. We 00:22:46.390 --> 00:22:48.750 were alive, of course, when that call came to 00:22:48.750 --> 00:22:57.890 us. The word call means to summon. In Romans 00:22:57.890 --> 00:23:02.869 1 .16, the church is called by the apostle, the 00:23:02.869 --> 00:23:07.609 called of Jesus Christ, the called ones, those 00:23:07.609 --> 00:23:12.089 who have been summoned by God to receive what 00:23:12.089 --> 00:23:19.500 he wishes to give to them. There are two... aspects 00:23:19.500 --> 00:23:22.799 to this calling of God. There is a general sense 00:23:22.799 --> 00:23:27.220 in which God calls all people. Then there is 00:23:27.220 --> 00:23:34.180 a special call, termed the effectual, effective 00:23:34.180 --> 00:23:37.359 calling of God that comes to those whom He has 00:23:37.359 --> 00:23:41.400 chosen. And it is impossible for a person to 00:23:41.400 --> 00:23:46.480 resist this. The general call of God can be and 00:23:46.480 --> 00:23:50.680 is resisted. And the fact is that if God did 00:23:50.680 --> 00:23:54.079 not give us the second effectual call, none of 00:23:54.079 --> 00:23:57.019 us would respond to God. Our sin is such that 00:23:57.019 --> 00:24:01.900 we would continue to rebel against Him. But I 00:24:01.900 --> 00:24:06.500 thank God that those of us who are believers 00:24:06.500 --> 00:24:10.400 tonight can look back in our lives and we can 00:24:10.400 --> 00:24:14.339 know the approximate time at least when God's 00:24:14.339 --> 00:24:18.319 call came to us and we responded. I'm not among 00:24:18.319 --> 00:24:20.259 those who believe that you have to know the time 00:24:20.259 --> 00:24:22.880 and the place if you haven't experienced it. 00:24:23.720 --> 00:24:27.200 But we can know that God has called us, summoned 00:24:27.200 --> 00:24:31.319 us to salvation. The next verb is found in the 00:24:31.319 --> 00:24:34.900 next clause. He says, and whom he called, these 00:24:34.900 --> 00:24:39.839 he also justified. Another act of God. Again, 00:24:39.900 --> 00:24:42.579 it occurred in our lifetime as we look at it. 00:24:43.309 --> 00:24:46.210 To be justified means to be declared righteous 00:24:46.210 --> 00:24:50.009 in God's eyes. This is not a matter of conduct. 00:24:50.089 --> 00:24:52.950 It's not a matter of character. It's a matter 00:24:52.950 --> 00:24:56.730 of legal standing before God. It means that God 00:24:56.730 --> 00:25:00.369 has completely changed the way that He looks 00:25:00.369 --> 00:25:07.809 at us. He now sees us in Christ. He sees us in 00:25:07.809 --> 00:25:10.930 relation to His Son with whom He is well pleased, 00:25:10.950 --> 00:25:16.769 and so He is well pleased with us. Because there 00:25:16.769 --> 00:25:20.990 is only righteousness in Christ, God sees only 00:25:20.990 --> 00:25:28.430 righteousness in us. He has justified us. Then 00:25:28.430 --> 00:25:31.170 there is one more verb, the fifth act of God 00:25:31.170 --> 00:25:35.470 in salvation. Whom he justified, these he also 00:25:35.470 --> 00:25:40.670 glorified. Now this is in the same tense as the 00:25:40.670 --> 00:25:44.609 other verbs. But it's interesting that this is 00:25:44.609 --> 00:25:48.490 not something that we've experienced yet. From 00:25:48.490 --> 00:25:50.849 our perspective, this is yet future, and yet 00:25:50.849 --> 00:25:54.509 it is so certain that God speaks of it as have 00:25:54.509 --> 00:25:59.769 already happened. He says He has glorified us. 00:26:01.049 --> 00:26:05.390 One commentator quoted by Everett Harrison says, 00:26:05.990 --> 00:26:10.920 this is the most daring verse in the Bible. because 00:26:10.920 --> 00:26:15.539 what it says and guarantees is that every person 00:26:15.539 --> 00:26:18.859 whom God has foreknown and predestined and called 00:26:18.859 --> 00:26:23.259 and justified is one day also going to be glorified. 00:26:24.420 --> 00:26:28.420 He looks here way ahead to the future, to the 00:26:28.420 --> 00:26:31.779 consummation of the whole process of sanctification. 00:26:33.099 --> 00:26:36.240 In this chapter, he says that we have been saved 00:26:36.240 --> 00:26:39.990 for the hope in verse 24. This is the hope he's 00:26:39.990 --> 00:26:43.109 talking about. That one day we should inherit 00:26:43.109 --> 00:26:49.170 the glory that has been given to us as the family 00:26:49.170 --> 00:26:52.450 of God, the heirs of God. Notice the family terms 00:26:52.450 --> 00:26:55.730 that are used back in verse 17. Heirs of God, 00:26:56.049 --> 00:27:01.009 fellow heirs with Christ. Verse 18 says, I consider 00:27:01.009 --> 00:27:03.529 that the sufferings of this present time are 00:27:03.529 --> 00:27:07.230 not worthy to be compared. with the glory that 00:27:07.230 --> 00:27:12.390 is to be revealed to us. One day, three or four 00:27:12.390 --> 00:27:15.369 weeks ago, God laid that verse on my heart and 00:27:15.369 --> 00:27:19.910 told me by that impression to share that with 00:27:19.910 --> 00:27:23.490 Gene Jordan. So the next time that I stood beside 00:27:23.490 --> 00:27:26.470 his bed, I said, Gene, there's a verse that God's 00:27:26.470 --> 00:27:28.769 laid on my heart for you, and I read that verse, 00:27:29.349 --> 00:27:31.809 and he was able to quote part of it because he 00:27:31.809 --> 00:27:35.559 had memorized hundreds of verses. in his life, 00:27:36.460 --> 00:27:38.880 and he knew where it was from, Romans chapter 00:27:38.880 --> 00:27:42.440 8, and he says, oh, what a great word from God. 00:27:44.940 --> 00:27:48.039 The sufferings of this present time, however 00:27:48.039 --> 00:27:53.339 severe they may be, are not even worthy to be 00:27:53.339 --> 00:27:57.859 compared with what God is going to give us. And 00:27:57.859 --> 00:28:03.000 he says, even the creation around us waits eagerly. 00:28:03.599 --> 00:28:08.059 For our revealing for this day when we will be 00:28:08.059 --> 00:28:13.039 glorified Why is that? Well because the creation 00:28:13.039 --> 00:28:19.700 is now suffering because of our sin It is now 00:28:19.700 --> 00:28:26.279 in futility But someday the creation is going 00:28:26.279 --> 00:28:32.000 to be set free verse 21 from its slavery to corruption 00:28:32.880 --> 00:28:37.660 into the freedom of the glory of the children 00:28:37.660 --> 00:28:43.000 of God. So that even the creation out here around 00:28:43.000 --> 00:28:51.140 us is one day going to experience a level of 00:28:51.140 --> 00:28:53.740 liberty it has never known since the Garden of 00:28:53.740 --> 00:29:00.000 Eden when it was subjected to futility. And if 00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:02.420 we could be on the right wavelength, we could 00:29:02.420 --> 00:29:08.700 hear it emitting groans. Do animals suffer? Yes, 00:29:08.700 --> 00:29:18.559 they suffer. Do plants suffer? Sometimes. When 00:29:18.559 --> 00:29:22.440 we forget to water them, like I do in my office. 00:29:25.279 --> 00:29:27.519 They don't suffer in the same sense, of course. 00:29:29.869 --> 00:29:32.410 The scripture seems to indicate that the whole 00:29:32.410 --> 00:29:37.250 creation is groaning. It is eagerly waiting for 00:29:37.250 --> 00:29:43.670 this future day when God's final act of salvation 00:29:43.670 --> 00:29:48.210 will be accomplished in time and space. And the 00:29:48.210 --> 00:29:52.829 sons of God are glorified because at that time 00:29:52.829 --> 00:29:57.650 the creation itself is going to burst into a 00:29:57.650 --> 00:30:02.549 new period. of liberty, and it will enjoy some 00:30:02.549 --> 00:30:06.990 aspects of the glory of the children of God. 00:30:09.869 --> 00:30:14.950 God loves his son so much that he wants a heaven 00:30:14.950 --> 00:30:21.230 full of people just like him. Leslie Allen, who 00:30:21.230 --> 00:30:24.289 was a teacher at the London Bible College, said 00:30:24.289 --> 00:30:28.400 that God is creating a family modeled after his 00:30:28.400 --> 00:30:33.980 unique son. That is the destiny of all who are 00:30:33.980 --> 00:30:40.799 the objects of his personal love. Jesus Christ 00:30:40.799 --> 00:30:47.000 is the firstborn among many brethren. He is the 00:30:47.000 --> 00:30:52.740 preeminent, supreme one. Are you part of the 00:30:52.740 --> 00:30:56.839 family of God? Are you born again from the womb 00:30:56.839 --> 00:31:00.920 of God's love by the Spirit and the Word so that 00:31:00.920 --> 00:31:05.259 you are a member of this royal lineage? Who wants 00:31:05.259 --> 00:31:09.539 to be a baronet? I don't even want to be a coronet. 00:31:12.299 --> 00:31:16.059 Who wants to be a prince or even a king or a 00:31:16.059 --> 00:31:21.900 queen when you can be one of the brethren of 00:31:21.900 --> 00:31:27.210 Jesus Christ? And because of that, an heir of 00:31:27.210 --> 00:31:34.269 God and a joint heir with Jesus Christ. How do 00:31:34.269 --> 00:31:36.450 you know if you're part of God's family? Well, 00:31:36.450 --> 00:31:41.309 he tells us in verse 28 that it's those who love 00:31:41.309 --> 00:31:45.950 God, the called. The called are those who love 00:31:45.950 --> 00:31:48.009 God. Now, it doesn't mean that we're saved by 00:31:48.009 --> 00:31:54.759 loving God. We are saved by faith. But when one 00:31:54.759 --> 00:31:57.059 is saved by faith, the result is that he loves 00:31:57.059 --> 00:32:03.039 God. That's the point. The Old Testament idea 00:32:03.039 --> 00:32:07.240 that is involved here, loving God, you can trace 00:32:07.240 --> 00:32:08.920 this in the Old Testament if you want to, but 00:32:08.920 --> 00:32:12.119 let me just say that it means those who love 00:32:12.119 --> 00:32:14.960 God are those who wholeheartedly give themselves 00:32:14.960 --> 00:32:18.440 to God's purpose and identify with his aims. 00:32:19.400 --> 00:32:23.220 That's what loving God is. It's those who wholeheartedly 00:32:23.220 --> 00:32:27.140 give themselves to his purpose and identify with 00:32:27.140 --> 00:32:30.799 his aims. Those are the called of God. That's 00:32:30.799 --> 00:32:32.579 how you can know you're a child of the Lord. 00:32:34.380 --> 00:32:39.559 That's the proof of it, that love for him in 00:32:39.559 --> 00:32:43.099 your life. I'd like for us to sing a chorus in 00:32:43.099 --> 00:32:49.460 closing. It is found in our hymnals 138. I wish 00:32:49.460 --> 00:32:52.390 we had the whole... song here, but this is one 00:32:52.390 --> 00:32:55.369 of the Gaither songs that we have the chorus 00:32:55.369 --> 00:32:59.430 to. It's called The Family of God and expresses 00:32:59.430 --> 00:33:02.769 what I hope you enjoy tonight, and that is the 00:33:02.769 --> 00:33:06.730 gladness that you're a part of the family of 00:33:06.730 --> 00:33:11.170 God. And join errors with Jesus. Let's stand 00:33:11.170 --> 00:33:31.000 together as we sing. I'm so glad I'm a part of 00:33:31.000 --> 00:33:38.599 the family of God. I've been washed in the fountain, 00:33:39.180 --> 00:33:47.440 cleansed by His blood. Joy tears with Jesus as 00:33:47.440 --> 00:34:03.559 we travel. Let's sing it once more. I'm so glad... 00:34:42.699 --> 00:34:47.340 to know Jesus Christ as the firstborn among many 00:34:47.340 --> 00:34:50.320 brethren, to be a part of this fraternity of 00:34:50.320 --> 00:34:54.760 faith. We bear his name as we walk out there 00:34:54.760 --> 00:34:59.940 in the world, and so let's bear the name of God 00:34:59.940 --> 00:35:03.940 well as his family, so that he never has to be 00:35:03.940 --> 00:35:10.739 ashamed to call us his brethren, so that we might 00:35:10.739 --> 00:35:15.989 walk with him this week. and agree on His aims 00:35:15.989 --> 00:35:18.909 and identify with His purposes in the world. 00:35:19.789 --> 00:35:25.610 Lord, I pray that we who are of this fraternity 00:35:25.610 --> 00:35:31.730 of faith might bear the family name well, that 00:35:31.730 --> 00:35:34.590 we might live as the sons of God in the midst 00:35:34.590 --> 00:35:42.070 of a crooked and perverse generation. Thank you 00:35:42.070 --> 00:35:46.110 for the joy. not only of sins being forgiven, 00:35:47.449 --> 00:35:52.449 but the joy of a future in heaven and the glory 00:35:52.449 --> 00:35:57.969 that's coming. Thank you for calling us to be 00:35:57.969 --> 00:36:02.030 your own. We worship you.