Romans (Session 11) Chapter 8c

[Music] well this session is the third of three the final one if you will on romans chapter 8. we're going through the epistle to the romans which is regarded by many as perhaps the most precious book of the bible because it's the definitive statement of christian doctrine written by one of the brightest men that has ever walked the planet earth paul was an incredible logician and otherwise people who have studied his writings are overwhelmed with the precision of his logic and the rest of it so it's a very it's it's his capstone piece if you will some people call it the gospel according to paul but the epistle of the romans and of the book of romans the high ground the peak the pinnacle is chapter eight there's 16 chapters the first eight are doctrinal and the rest then the next three will have to do with israel and some other things are dispensational the last then the rest are practical uh ones but this is the high ground romans eight and you'll see why what i'm about to say is true as we get through the evening but you might just make a mental note if you're ever down if you're ever discouraged if some radio preacher has confused you or whatever me included um if you ever get uh down for any reason just remember romans eight jump right into romans eight if you're lazy jump in the middle and take the last half but the whole thing is phenomenal incredible incredible chapter but what it deals with especially near the end is a topic that has divided the christian body for more for better than four centuries the doctrine of eternal security can you lose your salvation how many have been asked that question or asked it themselves sometime recently it's a common question and you'll find good scholars giving you different answers to that so you need to just and i'm going to suggest you it's a very important question there are two of the most important questions in your life theologically speaking that we're going to be dealing in this uh study that's one of them yeah i'll get to the other one later but uh it's important to understand and don't accept your view because of my articulation of the arguments develop your view from your knowledge of the scripture anchor your belief whatever it is in the word of god where it should that's where it should be anchored anyway but we're going to explore this in chapter eight now just by way of review the first two chapters level the playing field they introduced the book and they dealt with three human predicaments the pagan man the moral man the religious man in effect pointing out they're all lost the pagan man the creation itself is sufficient to indict him condemn him that's enough to hold us accountable by which we fail the moral man we all know people that seem to live exemplary lives they don't go to church they're not religious but boy they're clean people and we think boy they haven't made it turns out that ain't so even the moral men don't they no matter how moral they might be they don't stand up to god's standard that's the point i'm not here to denigrate them but that's basically paul's point the third man the person that's religious and he uses as an exemplar the jew the devout jew he keeps the law sort of and yet he deals with that and the net net of the first two chapters is that we are all lost because we have a genetic defect we're not hiv positive i hope but we're sin positive it's a genetic defect and there is a blood cur a blood remedy for it shed blood for that so that led to the biggest problem can you imagine god having a problem you think of god he didn't have any problems yes he had a huge problem because he couldn't violate his nature which is justice and yet he wanted he loved us enough to want to save us and so how that his biggest problem is how do you solve that that's very problematic it's casual only if you don't understand his righteousness and you don't understand our degree of sinless that golf is huge how does how does god deal with that without being inappropriately lenient and by having it paid and that's why i get to the greatest gift the greatest gift god's greatest problem is solved by the greatest gift possible and that that gift is summarized i like i love the way my friend hal lindsey summarizes it he uses the letter grace g-r-a-c-e okay god's riches at christ's expense christ paid the price so the father could wipe our slate clean he did it all so one of the first questions we're going to deal with tonight as we get into the material is can you lose your salvation if your salvation depends on you yes you can you can lose your salvation it depends on you mind doesn't mind depends on christ so it's a little it's a trick question with a trick answer perhaps but that's very true god's riches at grace at christ's expense i love the way how he uses that as a mnemonic but it's i think very effective the fifth chapter was the sequence to maturity going from from tribulation to patients to to perseverance to hope hope is the hope is at the top strangely enough then we get to chapter six that most people are shocked by that sin no longer need rain in your life well you mean i can be sinless no i didn't say that but you have a choice now you have the power to avoid sin you have the power to be sinless if you will walk by the spirit yeah you will just stumble here and there yeah probably but you have before being regenerate before being saved you didn't have you were about you were a bondage to sin and death but if you're in christ you no longer are and that's what chapter six it ain't sin ain't gonna rain no more it may get you aware it's here and there but it won't be in control and that led to chapter 7 the law law school what was the purpose of is the law faulty no not at all the law's purpose is to show us our need not to fulfill that need there's a difference and and the law school chapter is classic for that reason but that just set up if you will the chapter we're now in which i would call the high water mark of romans and it's going to be another way to look at the book another way of backing off to give you an overview of the book is the trinity god the father is the focus of the first three chapters one through about three verse to about verse 20. god the son who provided the salvation grace is god's riches at christ's expense he paid the price i'm not de-minimizing the the role of the father in his forbearance anybody that's been a father and has seen their son in emergency ward being worked on by doctors knows that he would gladly have changed places if he could have one of the most astonishing analysis is to think through the role of the father as he stood back and allowed these jerks to spit on him insult him torture him nail him to that cross and so forth but god the son is the chapters three through seven god the holy spirit is the subject of the rest of the book because he's the comforter that was sent as jesus left us he left us he didn't leave us comfort less he left the holy spirit here and our biggest challenge in life moment to moment is understanding and appropriating the resources of the holy spirit to accomplish our sanctification whatever that means okay romans opened up is that the the law of the spirit of life in christ jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death i just want to pick one verse from the first to summarize what we had there that summarized the whole previous chapter chapter 7. well the law of sin and death will be with us as long as we are in this body it doesn't necessarily have to have dominion over us that's the big difference we have a choice the law of the spirit of life different law chuck you're under the law yes and not the law you are this this law i'm not under the law of the torah i'm under the law of the spirit they're different one this one's far more demanding actually but it also has the empowering see in the genitive case the law principle of the life-giving spirit is what it really says and this is this is abiding in jesus christ we'll hear you more and more about this abiding in him the organic union that we have that's why we collectively are called what the body of christ body of christ don't confuse that with the bride of christ that's a little homework assignment what's the difference between the bride of christ in the body of christ it's not the same thing ooh that's a deep one let's move on okay and we talked about in the in the middle chunk of uh book of romans eight why do christians have trials anybody notice christians have trials once you're christian or have any more trials right wrong okay you have crowds to glorify god you do get occasionally this for discipline for known sin to prevent us from falling into sin to keep us from pride paul is a good example of that the thorn in his flesh by the way i found out something in the greek it isn't thrown in the flesh that's a polite the po yes a euphemism of the king james it's a pain in the neck or lower some people have a lot even a lower opinion but anyway going build faith cause growth teach obedience and discipline equip us to comfort others prove the reality of christ in us and also as a testimony to angels we talked about each one of those in the previous session you go through the notes this is by way of review the first 13 we had our verses of romans eight we had our deliverance from the flesh the next few verses we had the realization of our son ship our sonship the prodigal son blew his inheritance but he didn't lose his sonship we have the opportunity to lose our inheritance by not being faithful but we don't lose our sonship even if we're adopted under the old roman and hebrew laws you were adopted that was irreversible irreversible in fact even if you were a natural if you're a firstborn son you were adopted at the right age to become officially the heir even though you may be born into it so not until you're adopted because you were able to hear it once you're adopted you can never be his own that's an important thing especially for tonight's lesson remember that then the next few verses why do christians suffer we went through that we're really in a boot camp for heaven you know if you're in the military any one of the services you go through the equivalent of a boot camp and indoctrination training and so forth and you endure a lot of that stuff because you have a good grasp of the fact that what you're going through there will prepare you for for the real stuff that's coming and that's exactly true with us our life from birth to death is a boot camp for heaven and i think there's the reason i think i have this view that most of the people go to heaven to be disappointed not that they're in heaven don't misunderstand me they're be grateful for that but it won't be what they expected because we've been all taught by preachers and stuff that we're all going to be at the wedding supper and we're all going to reign with christ no no no no no that's the bride of christ those ones that have been faithful and i think when we realize that we're in heaven all right but we didn't avail ourselves of a faithful walk while we're on the earth and we have forfeited the kind of inheritance that could have been us that's where the weeping and gnashing of teeth come in not from people are unsaved they're already taken care of no we're talking about something else check it out don't take my word for it my wife and i are doing a book on this we hope to have it out in a few months so we're in chapter the last part of the the uh thing here eternal security and predestination versus free will boy those problems have plagued philosophers from the beginning of time if these are predestined do we really have free will or if we really have free will how could they be predef that sounds like it's a contradiction it's only a contradiction when viewed from within the time domain we were in 18 to 30 last time so today we're going to focus on eternal security and this predestination issue last time we finished about verses 16-17 the spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of god and if children then heirs heirs of god and joint heirs with christ we have no capacity to imagine what that means for everybody no no then it says if this is a conditional reward if so be that we suffer with him see not everybody in heaven is going to necessarily be a joint heir or will achieve the inheritance that's set aside for them depends how faithful your walk is yes that's works not to be saved but to gain your inheritance they're different issues and so many that arrive in heaven will be disappointed and if that doesn't shock you you weren't listening carefully that's serious stuff inheritance there are different kinds of inheritance in both the old and the new testament inheritance can mean several things among them is a reward for a life of faithfulness and that's really what we're talking about here there are yes you're inherit but you inherit if the father deems you faithful there are lots of sons in the old testament that were first born set to inherit that didn't he saw as an example the classic example there are others reuben's another one jesus achieved his inheritance by persevering and suffering and that's exactly what the writer to hebrews says in chapter two and the letter to philippians emphasizes that even jesus earned his inheritance by performance his companions will inherit the same way same way he did by what by faithful by faithful performance now inheritance can be forfeited we need to understand that as christians we somehow assume that just because we have this free get out of hell free card our passport stamp to enter heaven that that boy that's it i'm sure glad that's taken care of we ignore the fact that there's a bema seat judgment coming that's going to give out rewards most of us go through life with the idea of gee if i'm there that's all i want to worry about maybe right now when you get there you might have a different outlook you wish boy i could have i could have really taken better advantage of my opportunities and uh so heavy stuff the only way inheritance can be gained is through perseverance a faithful service so we get to romans 2 when you get to romans chapter 8 you want to put a tab or a marker or something on verse 28 because that'll allow you to check it about once a day okay we know that all things work together for good to them that love god to them who are the called according to his purpose not everybody not everybody we know that all things work together for good to them that love god to them who are the called according to his purpose for whom he did for no he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son that he might be the firstborn among many brethren moreover whom god did predestinate them he also called and whom he called them he also justified and whom he justified them he also glorified wow and then it goes on what shall we then say to these things if god be for us who can be against us good question he that spared not his own son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us all things who shall say anything to the charge of god's elect it is god that justify who is he that condemneth it is christ that died yay rather is risen again who is even at the right hand of god who also maketh intercession for us this is just the overview of where we're headed we'll go through this here in a minute and then it goes on to the big wrap up who shall separate us from the love of christ shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword as is written for thy sake we are killed all the day long we're counted as sheep for the slaughter hey in all these things we are what more than conquerors the more than uh paul's more than more than conquerors through him that loved us for i am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels or principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth or any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of god which is in christ jesus our lord boy heavy stuff now romans 8 28 the most three most important words of that verse are the first three going back to picking this up and going through a little more carefully we know that all things work together we don't hope we don't suspect we don't surmise no no we know this verse has power to you if you know that we know that all things most things know all things all things work together really when trouble comes your way when some huge setback hits you right between the eyes that's that's father filtered if you're a christian there's a reason for it you may not see it and i like to summarize i think every day god finds another way to ask us the question do you trust me every day god finds a different way to ask that question do you trust me now we know that all things work together for good to everybody no to them who love god who them are who are the called definite articles very important who are the called according to his purpose sanctified we've talked about justification justifications by faith alone by believing christ you were justified your passport stamped okay to enter you haven't changed but you are now clear you are not guilty it separates you from the penalty of sin it doesn't separate you from the power of sin that's what sanctification is all about sanctification is to start justification declares you righteous you're categorized legally as righteous you haven't changed yet sanctification is the intent there's to make you righteous and beginning from regeneration being born again to its completion glorification sanctifications final things to get you glorified we'll get to that it's ultimately whose work god's work now you have to be a participant but it's god's work and you appropriate it by faith that's philippians 1 6. we know that all things work together for good to them that love god to them where they're called according to his purpose the works together is active voice present tense of the verb sinergy it emphasized that this is a continuing activity of god is what it's saying it's a continuing activity of god it takes continual external inputs to coordinate the process we need to understand that by the way let me pause for a minute and talk about an analogy that might be useful let's imagine that every one of us in this room could play any instrument of an orchestra you all have the skills to play any instrument that's involved and there's plenty of instruments around if i handed you a complete copy of the symphony each one had their own copy each one had an instrument she could play would you have a symphony no what was missing a conductor put it in design terms someone has to supply the conflict resolution logic somebody will say you're going to be first violin you're going to be percussion you're going to assign the roles and get it organized you follow me if you study the dna from an information science point of view and that's what it's all about by the way microbiology has gone from biology really to the information sciences that's the frontier of that whole world from an information science point of view the fact that your dna completely describes you that just one cell you can produce your dna and that dna it can end up reproducing you in a reproductive process it completely describes that's what jurassic park dramatizes the novel the piece of information will create a creature having the dna alone ain't enough because there's no it turns out from an information science point of view it takes external input you've got cells that are a single cell that's dividing right one becomes two then four then eight and they're stem cells they're undifferentiated but then pretty soon they start differentiating some of them become bone tissue some become cortical tissue some become muscle whatever and they become organs now wait a minute who told them which one was going to do what if two cells split how do they split identically and then again identically you follow me there's something missing isn't there there is a view held by some scientists that god is involved in every cell division and external input is required and that's exactly what's going on here is that this this this term he works together we know that all things work together no he works together that it takes continual external inputs to accomplish the sanctification now every cell division in the human zygote having complete coding in each cell is not enough you need con what's called in the computer field conflict resolution logic somebody has to be the quarterback follow me you don't just feel the team of skilled players need somebody to be the quarterback to define roles and missions be called we know that all these work together forget him or thee called according to his purpose the word is clatos it means to be summoned to divinely selected and appointed are you divinely selected appointment appointed apparently hope so if so you can take comfort in this verse example is joseph 13 years in prison sold out by his family his own brothers you think he had some down moments man and yet he perceived they meant it for evil but god meant it for good he's the one that when he glorified you know this incredible story you need to review that from time to time so our issue that we're going to be joining here is eternal security can a man lose his salvation that's the big question that lurks behind many discussions today and yes you can lose your salvation if it depends on the person asking the question the armenian there's two major views the armenian denies that a true child of god is eternally secure the armenian point of view is that you better persevere to the end or you're not really saved well that makes your salvation a result of your energy and efforts and what have you but that is the armenian view and there are many many churches that really come out of that tradition they would argue that unless you persevere you're not really saved well the other view is the calvinist view calvinist insists that if he does not persevere to the end that just proved he wasn't saved in the first place so he sort of argues the same way for different reasons he sort of stands back and are you saved well i'll watch and see you get to the end of your life and if you persevered then yeah i guess you were saved and some of the theologians will call that view the experimental predestinarians you're predestinated but you don't find out until you get there that you were predestinated it's sort of like trying to find the address you're going to by watching the rearview mirror somehow but for for 400 years most church theologians have been in one camp or the other they're either armenian because you really got it i know it's salvation's free but you've really got to earn it and that contradiction never gets quite resolved the calvinist goes the other way around if you're saved it's because you were predestinated from the beginning how do you know well we'll find out when you get there you get there oops you know one of the things my wife and i are writing a book on is a way between these two because they're both correct and what they assert and they're both wrong and what they deny and there's a path between these two and that's the path we're going to try to touch on lightly in this study so you have been 400 years of doctrinal disputes with outstanding scholars on both sides you can't fault these people they're bright people but we think this has occurred because the failure to distinguish between justification that's why we don't generally use the word salvation salvation consists of three things justification sanctification glorification what we usually mean by salvation is justification god is justified in letting you into heaven you've got your c you've got your passport to get in here it is no one can take it away from you that's certain why because christ paid for it all we haven't talked about sanctification yet sanctification is a whole other issue and do we need to discern the difference there to understand much of what the scripture has to tell us and the sanctification is going to show up in our different inheritances when we get to the bema seat of christ some people will be sovereign some will be subjects but they'll all be in heaven yes but with different roles and missions but okay we'll discover as we get into the next few chapters a word that shows up in the greek called the metacoi it's a the true child of god is obligated to persevere that's paul's word and in fact it shows up first in romans 8. and he's the partaker if coinenos is the path that medical is the guy who's arrived in a sense of speaking he's the one that's actually participated he has suffered with christ he is he hasn't just he's been a doer of the word not a hearer only and so but um if the medical way fails to persevere he doesn't lose the salvation he he he does not forfeit his justification but he justifies some of his inheritances he may face discipline in time he will lose his reward to the judgment seat of christ the bema seat as we call it and but the real point we're going to get into here is that all three persons of the godhead the father the son and the holy spirit are preserving us through to completion or fruition that which god has already determined and that may shock many theologians to really apprehend that that you may not if you're if you're saved your perseverance is guaranteed by god you may not make it the first time around you know i'm reminded of the naval academy obviously you have to pass suing tests and some guys go through the test they manage it there's always a few that just don't so they go to remedials and they finally learn to swim but boy what they go through to finally get qualified uh you wouldn't wish on your your worst friend you know because you're gonna your naval academy you're gonna swim before you graduate but uh that just there are other examples but that's that's the idea anyway so we're gonna leave the um specific uh commitments here to one uh uh some of these commitments in this chapter and some of them are going to come up in the subsequent chapters but what we really want to get at is the basis if i'm going to take a position in eternal security what's the basis well it depends on three people and you're not one of them it depends on god the father let's talk about him first it depends it depends upon his sovereign purpose why did god save you in the first place his eternal purpose is declared ephesians chapter 1 verse 11 12. he it was anchored within the veil of the temple confirmed by oath according to hebrews 6. his solemn purpose he had a sovereign purpose is god he has a solemn purpose our salvation depends upon his promise and not our faithfulness our salvation depends upon his promise we're going to look at some of those promises carefully romans 4 back there in chapter 4 therefore it is of faith what does that mean nothing on man's part that might be by grace that's everything on god's part faith is your part grace is his part your part is zero just accepting it you have to accept it yes but you don't do anything you do if you're doing something for that gift you're insulting the giver to the end that the promise might be sure see if you can screw it up you will god has designed this so that you can't mess it up i love that part of it if it depended on any point in human ability to continue to believe then the promise could not be secure i believed once i don't know okay if you have to continue to believe that some people hold that view that means your security is dependent upon your performance that's not what i had read in the scripture and i'll show you why in a minute the promise that those who believe will be saved is confirmed end to end in the scripture as early as genesis 15 6 and if you haven't learned it yet memorize john 3 16 and right on through it goes on you can't even list them all if you believe in jesus christ you shall be saved that's the promise very simple no foot no footnotes no conditions it depends upon his infinite powers god able to deliver we know what his purpose is both as sovereign and also his perm his promised commitment he is free to save us nothing can hinder god he's free to save us christ's death has rendered god free to save us in spite of moral imperfection we're imperfect hate to be the one to break the news to you but we're imperfect but god can view us as perfect because christ paid up the difference he took care of it our eternal security does not depend upon our own moral worthiness right okay if it didn't if our eternal sick if our first being saved didn't depend on our moral perfection why should our completion have to be that doesn't mean if we're not complete we don't lose something like inheritance but we're still saved because christ is the propitiation the payment for the provision for our sins okay if you assume that there's some sin sufficiently serious which causes us to forfeit our salvation that's to assume that we were less worthy of salvation after having committed the sin than before and reduces salvation down to the human ability to merit it so again you're you're at the minute you you put that factor in there you're starting to earn the program that's he god has purposed to keep us saved in john 6 39 we're going to look at a couple of verses here that'll really nail it as far as i'm concerned john 6 37 and following jesus speaking this is jesus himself he says all that the father giveth me shall come to me that's interesting right there if you come to christ it is the father has given you to him all that the father giveth me shall come to him to me and him that cometh to me i will in no wise cast out boy that's a comfort right nothing prevents you from coming to christ the calvinist will say well you can only go if you're predestinated well i'm going to set him aside for the moment here it says all that the father give me shall come to me him that cometh to me i will no wise cast out for i came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of him that sent me and this is the father's will which hath sent me that of all which he hath given me i should lose nothing but should raise it up again at the last day if you can lose your salvation god loses more than you do you lose your salvation he loses his good name and i think that's worth more to him than anything else that doesn't compute but he's not through here jesus i should lose none he always puts a footnote the exception of course is judas that was a predestined exception that he notes but okay and this is the will of him that sent me that everyone would see it the son and believe on him may have everlasting life and i will raise him up at the last day that's christ's promise do you believe it i do i do but this is my dandy this is the ones i really enjoy john chapter 10 remember john 10. again jesus speaking he says and i give unto them eternal life and by the way if what he gives you can be forfeited it ain't eternal if he gives you eternal life that's for a long time okay and i give unto them eternal life and they shall what hardly ever perish right you know what it says they shall never perish never perish i'm going to come back to that phrase in a minute neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand do you see a hand who's sitting in his hand you are but he's not finished yet you're in christ's hand idiomatically speaking right neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand right somebody say well you can pluck yourself out i don't think so i think when it says any man that includes me i can't do it either i may mess things up i may forfeit some inheritance i may mess up some plans he has for me if i would just be faithful i can mess that up people do mess up me too especially neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand he says but then he goes on my father which gave them me is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand do you realize this little passage has two hands involved the only way i can visualize it is like this you know i don't think anything can successfully extract us out of their combined hands for sure actually out either one of them but you get the point i'm trying to make okay out of my hand or out of my father's hand there are two hands involved here the word shall never perish in the greek is a double negative in the english a double negative is a verboten you can't do that double negatives are inappropriate in greek grammar in english grammar in greek it's a way of being emphatic we don't want non-know-how it doesn't work in english exactly but it doesn't greek it's it's a way of emphasis and the shall never in the greek is a double negative which is in fact you know especially emphatic now by the way if somebody tells me that there's a way i can lose my salvation i will probably give him the kind of remark that i would expect from a walter martin who's a dear friend i didn't get this from walter but i'll blame him for it um if if you can lose your salvation i've got a new name for god you know what it is butterfingers and of course i'm being irreverently facetious here as only walter could be at times that's why i'm blaming him for this kind of approach but i like that term because it dramatized what we're trying to say if you can lose your salvation then god has fumbled it because jesus himself says it's in his father's hand as well as his own see to me that's enough but let's go on so it depends upon his sovereign purpose his solemn purpose his infinite power oh and upon his much more love he his uh intent god's intent the father's intent is love based that's what we had in romans 5. we went through all of that there let's remember refresh your memory for when we were yet without strength in due time christ died for the ungodly really boy that shatters limited atonement doesn't it you know the calvinist would say that he died only for the people that are saved well that's not what the scripture says christ died for the ungodly that's all of us actually god gives all of the world that he gave his only begotten son anyway for scarcely a righteous man will one die but per adventure for a good man some would even dare to die but god commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners christ died for us so god the father is motivated by love much more than being now justified by his blood we shall be saved from wrath through him for if when we were enemies we were reconciled to god by the death of a son much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his life the much more much more again see god knew when he said we saved us that god knew when he saved us that we were totally depraved and therefore any new manifestation of sin in our lives after our conversion cannot be any motivation to god to change his mind and withdraw his grace and his salvation and i love the way uh charles spurgeon says it he we'll see a verse here in a minute that god picked this before the foundation of the world ephesians 1 4. we'll look at it in a minute uh but i always think of that spurgeon's the one that apparently said i'm glad he picked me back then because if you saw me now i might change his mind and he's being facetious of course see god saved us for reasons that are independent of us that are outside of us he's got his own agenda and part of the discovery we'll be spending an eternity to understand is why did he bother he had his reasons and it's explained in the seventh verse of ephesians 2. so you check that out in your ephesians 2 7 tells you why did he bother so that in ages yet to come he could manifest his love by his riches and glory in christ jesus so god is motivated by electing love and not by observation of good and the sinner that's his motivation there's a fifth reason why it depends on god the father and that's because of his answer to the prayer of his son does god answer the prayers of jesus i think we could bank on that right believers are called by many things in scriptures saints believers elect sheep partakers what have you right but the title that's most dear to the heart of christ isn't saints believers elect sheep partakers no no the the term he uses seven times in his prayer to his father in john 17. seven times he speaks of us those whom thou hast given me you know it's interesting i think all of us have this experience either with our wife or maybe our parents they've given us some little gift that may in itself may not be that big a deal but it's dear to us because it came from them but you you all you all can conjure up a picture of something at home that's dear to you especially because not because of its intrinsic value but because of who gave it to you christ appears to talk about us that way because we're the father's gift to him the title most dear to christ is those whom thou hast given me not once or twice seven times in the most intimate passage in the entire bible isn't the lord's prayer in the sermon on the mount that wreath should be called the disciples prayer the sabbath said the lord teaches to pray he gives them a prayer we call it the lord's spirit should be called the disciples prayer the lord's prayer is chapter 17. and when you're ready for a serious intimate time sit down privately where you won't get interrupted and pour yourself into john 17. it's the one time you hear the sun commune with his father but seven times in that prayer he speaks of us as those whom thou hast given me and i summarize this whole passage in here by suggesting that the father always answers the prayers of his son and the son in that prayer by the way passes the responsibility of our perseverance from himself to his father and the father accepts it that's kind of fun let's take a look at john 17. he says as thou has given him power over all flesh that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him jesus speaking of himself i have manifested thy name unto the men which thou hast gave us me out of the world thine they were and thou gave us them me and they have kept thy word verse nine i pray for them i pray not for the world well that's an interesting line jesus doesn't pray for the world no no no i pray for them now pray not for the world but for them which thou has given me in other words out of the world for they are thine now i'm no more in the world but these are in the world and i come to thee holy father keep through thine own name those that whom thou has given me that they may be one as we are wow you mean we can be as one with christ as christ is with the father those are wild words to absorb but i come to thee father you keep that keep through thine own name he is signing the responsibility to the father which while i was with them in the world i kept it kept them in thy name those that thou gavest me i have kept and none of them is lost but the son of perdition that the scripture might be fulfilled wow father i will they also whom thou has given me be with me where i am that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me for thou lovest me before the foundation of the world this is the son talking the father just a few little excerpts from this chapter that i had to throw in here seven times for those who had given me this keeping of the father is from perishing that's the context of the passage from here now we go to a chain of as if that isn't enough we're going to go to the chain of five links verse two verses two now we've got through verse twenty we've got two eight thirty eight now we're through twenty nine thirty a chain of five links god's sovereign purpose is exemplified in these two verses eight eight twenty nine eight thirty for whom he did for no he did also predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son that he might be the firstborn among many brethren that's where spurgeon makes his class god chosen before i was born i'm glad he did otherwise they might have changed his mind uncertainty about election can arise only from some kind of self-righteousness by the way i'll let you think that one through a little bit moreover whom he did predestinate them he also called and whom he called them he also justified whom he justified them he also glorified that's a link of five chains it's unbroken that assures that not only assures your justification it assures your sanctification that's somebody do it the short way not the long way this eternal choice and foreign knowledge involves more than establishing a relationship between god and believers it's far more involved than that it involves the certainty of our sanctification and that's a huge topic we'll come to later in another session those from god foreign he also predestined to be conformed to what that's your destiny to be conformed to the likeness of the sun god's going to find a way to shape you mold you make that happen so he whom he four know he'd be destinated who would be predestined he called whom he called he justified whom he justified those are the five links and the holy spirit we suspect had in mind the patriarchs because from god's knowledge he predestinated abraham then then he called isaac and that term is used in three different places genesis 21 it's also built up in hebrews 11 18 and it'll come up in romans in the next chapter we'll get into and then isaac we get to jacob and if god can justify jacob that conniver let me ask you a question would you buy a used car from jacob i don't think so he was a he was a conniver a heel catcher but god justified him and of course joseph is the exemplar there's over a hundred ways in the story of joseph that it speaks of christ that's an example or as a type so abraham isaac and jacob joseph predestinate call justified and glorified the pattern is there for those that want to go study that four no simply mean that's where it starts in god's knowledge the entire group of these are brought into god's eternal plan by defined foreknowledge and the choice is predestined predetermined how can god do that because he's outside time he knows what you he knows what choice you're going to make before you make it does that mean you're not free to you can make a choice like he just happens to know what it is the dice are loaded so to speak okay ephesians chapter 1 in whom also we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after what the council of his will so that's predestinated simply means planned in advance that's no just a fancy word for meaning plan in advance your destiny is planned in advance and then it picks up a few verses later in ephesians 1. according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him in love having predestinated us unto the adoption of children children or sons by jesus christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will to the praise of glory of his grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved he's predestinated us to be accepted in christ okay the call that's simply a a call to come to him and we read that we read that in john 10 earlier and and justified that's what romans 5 was all about there is therefore now we're all justified not by the works of the flesh and so forth and then glorification those he also glorified and and so forth romans 8 30. so these things are really an echo of those verses and you can go that through your notes we're running out of time here this is basically a clear statement of the eternal security of the saints an unbreakable link of five chains five links here what's the goal that the resurrected and glorified christ would become the head of a new race of humanity and that that's that of course won't happen until the end of the millennium purified from all contact with sin and prepared to live eternally in his presence that's what first corinthians 15 will detail near the end it's astounding for us to consider that god's plan of salvation for people is a program that reaches from eternity past before the earth was shaped to eternal future and god is going to carry out that plan perfectly i have searched the scriptures all the way through and i cannot find the word whoops god doesn't make mistakes so recognize we now encounter seven questions that's the big finish here the first couple are in verse 31 it basically the questions they ask that can opposition defeat the christian yeah can opposition defeat you well let's see what paul says about that what shall we then say these things if god before us who can be against us answer that one if god's on your side who can be against you the if there is the first class condition in the greek it's since okay we'll go through the four classes again and obviously satan and his hosts are against believers you may have noticed anyone that doesn't believe in satan should try opposing him for a while but we if ephesians 6 is your remedy you can dig that out on your own but satan and his hosts cannot ultimately prevail and triumph over believers that's the commitment of god in the scripture god is the self-existent sovereign creator since he is four believers no one can oppose believers successfully you may get hassled but your victory is yours okay the next question is will we have the resources good question let's see what paul says he that even spared not his own son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us most things you know what it says all things that's a very important word and by the way both the king james and the revised failed to translate the greek particle gay it really should be he that not not he that spared he that even spared not his own son small point but it's emphatic okay the word spare and fasatto is the same word as used in the septuagint in in genesis chapter 22 when abram didn't withhold his son on the mount of mariah he didn't withhold a son he didn't spare his son same term here god that did not spare his own son the linkage is deliberate between this expression romans 8 32 and the offering of isaac in genesis 22 verse 12. god offered his own son on that very spot as a sacrifice for sin and abraham knew he was doing that that's why he named the place prophetically in fact it was his belief in the resurrection of isaac the writer to hebrews tells us in hebrews 11 19 that is what saved him and since god sacrificed his own son he will not hesitate to give believers all things pertaining leading to their ultimate sanctification so that makes sense next question was okay will our failures reverse our justification no you may lose some inheritance but you won't lose your justification how do i know that paul says who shall lay anything to the charge of god's elect it's god that justifieth in other words the judge the fix is in okay the word charge here is a formal legal term and to press charges if you will satan is identified of course the words hassetan satan is is the accuser that's why when i see some of these radio ministers accuse other radio ministers that's accusing the brethren i know where that doctrine comes from satan is identified as the accuser of god's people someone's accusing god's people i don't care who he is he's doing satan's work now satan's accusations are valid they're not false some of them are slander but they're valid because they're based on the believer's sinfulness and defilement and we are sinful satan's accusation will be thrown of course because it's god that justified the fix is in our defense council's father is the judge there's a way of looking at it okay the accused person is righteous on the basis of his faith in jesus christ christ has paid the tab as a result all accusations are dismissed and no one can bring an accusation that will stand that's the way romans chapter 1 opens the first verse there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in christ jesus it opens up with no condemnation it closes with there is no separation from christ as you'll see here in a minute okay the next question is can anyone condemn us for any reason at all these are the questions that are implied by the rhetorical the ones that paul said now i said it depends on god the father depends on god the son we now enter the third person or the the son i should the end of the son who is he that condemneth it is christ that died yea that rather has risen again who is even at the right hand of god who also is our chief defense counsel who also maketh intercession for us christ's full-time job right now is to pray for you wow that's comforting to think that he spends his time interceding before the father for you and me wow he is god's appointed judge i'll pray verse on that jesus is whom the believer has trusted for his salvation he's the one who died more than that he was raised life who was the right hand of god and that versus our manifold we don't have to you know bludgeon this one further but he is also along with all that presently full time in prayer for us interceding for us so he justified the ungodly god will not and cannot contradict himself by charging them with evil that's what romans 4 said back there and what romans 8 is raising issue here who is he that counteth and paul gives him four answers each of which are taught elsewhere in the scripture but they're gathered here to underscore the unconditional security of the believer christ died he has risen he advocates and he intercedes those are the four reasons and christ is effective in all four of those if god has already justified the man who believes in jesus how can he lay anything to the charge of his already justified one he can't his justification comes from the imputed righteousness of christ and is legally ours we mean we don't deserve it but we've got it stamped our passport stamped in effect justification is not the subject of merit it cannot be lost by demerit if you didn't earn it in the first place you can't unearn it like a father god can and does correct his earthly sons but they always remain sons you and i may be taken to the woodshed for something we've done but we're still his son the prodigal sends the example he blew his inheritance but he was still welcomed back because he never lost his sonship is the point luke 15 if you want to dig into it okay who can condemn us if the penalty has already been paid double jeopardy huh the greatest proof of eternal security is the justification by faith your justification by faith passages lock that down justification reverse how god sees us and don't know what no one else doesn't matter how they see us that's the way god sees us as innocent it's entirely justification a legal matter of forensic matter entirely remember colossians 2 14 the the telesty the handwritings paid in full we went through all that before the redemption is eternal and once and for all according to hebrews 9 and 10 and that hammers it depends on god the son because of his substitutionary life and also because we could go through all of those again john uh romans 5 hammered that now also his present session of course is advocate and intercessor he's our legal advocate now armenians fear that this kind of a doctrine will lead towards sin but john says it's a motivation not to sin in 1st john 2. he's our priestly intercessor and hebrews 7 says he saves to the uttermost he not only is praying for us hebrews tells us it's effective and we truly were many priests because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death but this man because he continueth ever hath an unchangeable priesthood he's not like aaron he's after the melchizedek here where for he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto god by him seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them wow well the third party that is the basis of our eternal security i haven't mentioned yet that's the holy spirit he has a ministry of regeneration that's all through the scripture he has a ministry of his baptizing ministry and don't confuse that with the water that's symbolic we went through that in romans 6 and upon his ceiling ministry we need to talk a little bit about sealing people misunderstand that first second excuse me second corinthians chapter 1 verse 22 says speaking of the holy spirit who hath also sealed us and given the earnest of the spirit in our hearts what are you talking about well the earnest is a pledge an arab it's a legal concept it's the first installment with which a man secures a legal claim upon a thing as yet unconscion consummated you go to store and pay a down payment for something they can't sell it to somebody else you see you got your down payment down that's that's the concept it's a down payment a deposit or a pledge it's evidence of good faith it's obligating the party to consummate the thing involved i put my down payment i still have to perform the rest yes but they can't slip out from under the concept that's the legal concept the holy spirit himself is designated here as the down payment he's the thing that's the earnest he's the down payment a first fruits to be followed by more according to romans 8 verse 23 you and i are sealed unto that day by what by the gift of the holy spirit now the sealing part of this if any one person who was born again in christ ever fails to enter heaven when he dies if that should happen then god will have broken his pledge do you think he's going to do that no way no way no conditions are mentioned it's a work of god and depends upon him alone and that's what the book of galatians is all about from end to end now let's look at a few more here the in ephesians 1 in whom we also trusted after he heard the word of truth the gospel of your salvation and who also after that he believed ye were sealed with that holy spirit of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of glory same concept we found in second corinthians one but you it's it's there's let's go to ephesians 4 30. grieve not the holy spirit of god by the way that way you know the holy spirit must love you you can't grieve somebody that doesn't love you grieve not the holy spirit of god whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption that's powerful language the word sealing sergio is a is a seal of protection it was what they did on the tomb of christ in matthew 27 seal of ownership um and the holy spirit seals it's like a signet ring of the father on hearts of wax i read that i couldn't resist throwing that in there but he leaves he leaves the mark of his ownership a broken seal is an indication that the protection wasn't adequate do you think the seal of the holy spirit is going to be adequate now he would say so can you break the do you think satan can break that seal i don't think so okay we got the last couple of questions to wrap it up then what kind of assurance can we have a victory then opposition can't defeat us we'll have the resources our failures can't reverse things no one condemns for any reason great okay what kind of assurance do we have for victory okay this is where paul wraps it up who shall separate us from the love of christ shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword seven setbacks laid out here seven setbacks that you might experience and paul by the way experienced all of these he talks about in second corinthians 11. tribulation what do we mean pressure distress whatever tribulation distress narrowness being pressed in hemmed in crowded persecution that's being chased or persecuted the new testament always refers in reference to the gospel by the way famine occurs 12 times in the new testament the god of elijah looks after his own nakedness first corinthians 4 peril jeopardy eight times in just one verse by the way in ii corinthians 11. tribulation distress persecution famine nakedness peril or sword yes the world hates the saints so we can expect the sword too as is written for thy sake we are killed all day long we're counted as sheep for the slaughter nay in all these things we are what more than conquerors through him that loved us indeed in all these adversities we are more than conquerors see rather than being separated from christ's love believers are more than conquerors that's the present tense they keep on being conquered to a greater degree is what the greek implies keep on winning a glorious victory is what it implies through him that loved us for i am persuaded paul continues that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers those are ranks of angels by the way principalities are powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of god which is christ jesus our lord the chapter opened with a guarantee of no condemnation it closes with a guarantee of no separation incredible incredible thing that's his final guarantee angels principalities demons powers of dark what else is there what else is there you know this chapter should help us reprioritize everything in our lives everything in our lives john tells us and this is one of my favorite verses in first john 3 2. i got to stick it in here beloved now are we the sons of god and it does not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is most people read that they don't understand what it's saying we're not going to see a representation of what he is a photograph is a two-dimensional organization of a three-dimensional person we're not going to see a three-dimensional representation of a 10-dimensional person or whatever no we shall see him as he really is not a he he's not a not a three-dimensional of an n-dimensional thing but because as he really is we will be like him whatever dimensionality he apparently enjoys this implies we will have the same capability that's astonishing let me finish with just a little tour divorce that i usually use when i wrap up something like this i want to talk about the coming king from a broader perspective jesus christ let me tell you about him a little bit you know it's funny with election year coming up i'll be getting invited maybe to some prayer breakfasts and so forth they never invite me back they'll invite me once and that does it because i explained that i'm not a republican or democrat i'm a monarchist let me tell you about my candidate he's a king he's a racial king everybody gasps and i say yeah he's jewish he's the king of the jews in fact he's a national king he's king of israel and in fact he's king of all the ages king of heaven king of glory and king of kings and lord of lords and the question is do you know him i mean do you really know him that's the question tonight he's a prophet before moses a priest after a melchizedek a champion like joshua an offering in the place of isaac a king from the line of david a wise counselor above solomon a beloved rejected and exalted son like joseph but yet much more the heavens declare his glory and the firmament shows his handiwork he who is who was and always will be the first and the last the alpha and omega the elephant the tau the a and the z he was the first fruits of them that slept he's the ego amid the i am that i am yes he was the voice of the burning bush he is the captain of the lord's host he was the conqueror of jericho joshua 5 read it wasn't joshua it was jesus in fact he's also enduringly strong entirely sincere eternally steadfast he's immortally graceful imperially powerful impartially merciful in him dwells the fullness of the godhead bodily the very god of very god he is our kinsman redeemer but he's also our avenger of blood in fact he's also our city of refuge he's our performing high priest our personal prophet our reigning king he's the loftiest idea in literature he's the highest personality in philosophy he's the fundamental doctrine of theology and yet he's the supreme problem in higher criticism in fact he's the miracle of all the ages the superlative of everything good you and i are beneficiaries of a love letter that was written in blood on a wooden cross erected in judea some two thousand years ago he was crucified on a cross of wood yet he made the hill on which it stood by him were all things made that were made without him was that anything that was made and by him are all things held together what held him to that cross it wasn't the nails at any time he could have said enough already i'm out of here what held on that cross it was his love for you and me that caused him to endure to the end he was born of a woman so you and i could be born again he humbled himself so that we could be lifted up he became a servant so that we could become joint heirs with him he suffered rejection so that we could become his friends he denied himself so that we he could so that we could freely receive all things he gave himself so that he could bless us in every way he's available to the temple and tried he blesses the young he cleanses the lepers he defends the feeble he delivers the captives he discharges the debtors he forgives the sinners he franchises the meek he guards the besieged he heals the sick he provides strength to the weak he he regards the aged he rewards the diligent he serves the unfortunate he sympathizes and he saves his offices are manifold his reign is righteous his promises are sure his goodness is limitless his light is matchless his grace is sufficient his love never changes his mercy is everlasting his word is enough his yoke is easy and his burden is light i wish i could describe him to you he's indescribable he's incomprehensible he's irresistible he's invincible the heaven of heavens cannot contain him man cannot explain him pharisees couldn't stop him they couldn't stand them but he found they couldn't stop him pilate the personal representative of the ruler of the world couldn't find any fault with him the witnesses couldn't agree against him herod couldn't kill him death couldn't handle him the grave couldn't hold him he has always been and always will be he had no predecessor he will have no successor you can't impeach him he ain't going to resign his name is above every name that at the name of yeshua every initial bow and every tongue shall confess that jesus christ is lord his is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever amen okay coming up for next session the next three chapters are going to focus on israel i recommend you prepare all three chapter 9 has to do with israel's past tense chapter 10 israel present tense today and chapter 11 israel's future most churches do not realize israel has a future but that's exactly what paul hammers away for three chapters that are coming up does god keep his promises as the central question and who on earth are the medicoi we're going to run into this strange word we'll talk about that then and what are the different kinds of inheritances what are they and what's the bema seat really all about so let's stand for a closing word of prayer well father we we just stagger as we realize extremes that you've gone to on our behalf we do thank you father that before the foundation of the world that you have called us we thank you for that calling father of that predestination we pray father that we would do our part by being faithful that we would avail ourselves of the resources you've placed at our disposal we do pray father that through your guidance and through the guidance of the spirit that we would indeed accomplish that which you have called us to be and to do we do pray father that we might enter more fully into that relationship that you have established for us that we might be more effective in our stewardship of the opportunities you placed before us oh father we thank you for this incredible portion of your word it just is overwhelming so we just thank you father we pray that through your spirit that you would help us be yours in every sense of that word as we commit ourselves without any reservations whatsoever into the lordship of yeshua in whose name we do pray amen [Music] you

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Length: 72min 29sec (4349 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 15 2020