Where we live
How? • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 34:35
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· 18 viewsCapping off our "How?" series with a big concept; Predestination. Has everything that we discussed in this series been apart of the sovereign plan of God? How do we see Jesus where we live now?
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What restaurant has the best fries?
What restaurant has the best fries?
What does it mean for God to be Sovereign?
What does it mean for God to be Sovereign?
This is a tough question, I know that it is. A big reason that we have done this series is so that we can establish who God is, completely different from us, and from the point of creation until now, where we live, He has never changed.
The unfortunate part about the Church as a whole is that they deem certain doctrines and truths as too difficult for people to worry about. You guys can handle it. I know you can. Not because you’re smart, or wise, but because it is truth; and as Jesus prayed in John 17 last week, Gods Word is truth and we are to be sanctified, set apart, in truth. So I, as your pastor who wants to feed the sheep God has provided me with food fit for a sheep, will speak the truth in love.
I do want to make my tone clear. I have been really hard on you guys, probably harder on you guys than any youth pastor before me. Am I wrong in assuming that? But I do it because I love you guys, I want you to grow. I want you to know God and love Him for who He is.
Where we live
Where we live
And at what point in history do we live right now? We live at the point in History between Christ’s death and His return. I mean of course in this time a lot of things have happened and a lot of time has passed, but to simply put it, we are at a place between Christ’s perfect life and death and resurrection, and His victorious return. And God, of course is the same then as He is now.
Last week, we read through the very lengthy and eye opening High Priestly prayer of Jesus. Hopefully you found it as impactful and assuring as I did. If you weren’t here it was recorded on our app so be sure to give it a watch. Today, we are going to examine the prayer of the Disciples in Acts 4. God willing we will all be challenged and encouraged to look deeper into it.
The Context
The Context
This is a very quick context as to what is happening. Basically, the persecution of the early church is beginning, this is something that we need to understand when going into this prayer. The messiah has died, rose again, and ascended into heaven, and the church is in the midst of persecution. John and Peter, 2 of Jesus’ disciples get put in custody under the priests and elders for sharing the Gospel and healing people, we step into where they are being released.
23 When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them.
So we are now back with the other disciples and John and Peter are informing them as to what the Priests had said about their sharing the Gospel and healing a man, and this is what had happened
21 And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people, for all were praising God for what had happened.
So John and Peter have informed the disciples of this, and now we enter into the prayer.
24 And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them,
Here is where we see Adoration, the apostles lifting a praise to the God who is. The Sovereign Lord, creator of everything seen and unseen.
25 who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “ ‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? 26 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’—
Here what we see is affirmation of the Holy Spirit’s work in the old testament. People think that the Holy Spirit just did not do anything in the old testament and that’s not true. We see the Holy Spirit poured out at Pentecost to establish the early church, but He was certainly active in the Old Testament doing things such as inspiring those who wrote the scriptures. Here we see one, this is a quote from Psalm 2 written by David.
David is posing the question, Why? In this series we have been answering the question How? But here David poses the question, Why?
Why did the gentiles rage? Why did the peoples plot in vain? Why did the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers who were gathered together against the Lord and the Lord’s Anointed? Why did this happen? First of all it’d be great if we had context as to what this is talking about. Oh wait we do! Next verse:
27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,
So The Disciples have just shown how the scriptures have been fulfilled in this instance with all the players described here. But we still have the question.. Why? Why did they do this? I want us to try to predict what the potential answer they are going to say here is. Don’t look it up.
Why was everyone gathered in opposition to Jesus?
Why was everyone gathered in opposition to Jesus?
Why did the gentiles, the Jews, Pontious Pilate, Harod, gather here? Why did all of the major players players come? In prayer they say.
28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.
Before we continue on with this prayer, I want to ask some questions.
Who knew this verse was in scripture? Who knew this word was in scripture?
People like to set up this debate
Predestination vs. Free Will
Predestination vs. Free Will
That should never be a debate that you get into. Why? It’s clear from the testament of Scripture that Predestination is a thing. We see it right here. The real question is this,
In what sense does God Predestine?
In what sense does God Predestine?
There are a lot of views on this. Many of them not Biblical in the slightest. So lets try to quickly establish a Biblical view on predestination before we finish out this prayer.
Firstly, we see revealed here that God has so predestined the event of the crucifixion and everyone who was there to be there and to act accordingly. Is this the only thing that God has ever predestined? Lets look elsewhere.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
We see here the same thing we saw in our lesson last week. That the Father, in love, has predestined believers, or in the language of Jesus in John 17, given the believers to Jesus to die for their sins and thus be adopted into the family of God.
So we see this language used in the crucifixion and salvation. What else? Glad you asked!
Just move a couple verses down in Ephesians,
11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.
Woah so we are predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.
Don’t you ever let anyone tell you God doesn’t work all things according the the counsel of His will. It literally says right here God works all things according to the counsel of His will. It does not mean a few things, or some things, It says all things so it means all things. Don’t read into Scripture what is not there just because you don’t like what it says.
Now, I want to interject that it is important to note that while God is sovereign and brings all things to pass, man still makes choices and will be held accountable for those choices.
Often times God’s sovereignty and human responsibility meet in a singular verse or in a verse right after the other. Let’s look at an example from Genesis.
Joseph
Joseph
Does everybody know the story of Joseph? It is found in the latter half of Genesis but i’ll give you a quick summary. He was one of the sons of Jacob. He was clearly Jacobs favorite, so much so that Jacob gave Him a coat called the coat of many colors. Beautiful coat.
One day Joseph had a dream that all of His brothers would bow down before Him.
At hearing this, His brothers were furious. They hated Joseph and wanted Him dead. So they had traveled far from home and plotted to kill him, but one of the brothers spoke up and said they should just sell him into slavery.
So they did just that, Joseph was sold into slavery. The slave traders brought him to Egypt and sold him to Potiphar. A high up Egyptian.
Joseph served Potiphar well but Potiphar’s wife took a liking to Joseph. She tried to make advances on Joseph but he fled from the temptation and in doing so Potiphars wife ripped a part of his garment and used it as evidence against Joseph.
So Joseph gets thrown into prison. Joseph does a great job of helping out the prison guard and the prisoners until they start having dreams. Joseph interprets those dreams and they come true. Then one of the prisoners is assigned to be a butler to pharoah.
Then pharoah has a dream and it is troubling him. But the prisoner remembers back to Joseph who can interpret dreams, So Joseph comes and interprets the dream and its great, so Pharoah decides he likes Joseph and puts him in charge of all of Egypt. Then the famine comes that was apart of Pharaoh’s dream, and full circle moment, Joseph’s brothers come and ask for food.
But they didn’t recognize Joseph so there was some events that happened and their Father, Jacob, comes down and Joseph reveals that he was their long lost and brutally betrayed brother, and they live happily until their dad dies. Then bam, Joseph’s brothers start to fear for their lives because they figured their father was the only thing that was keeping Joseph from reigning down all of his power on them and killing them. But! We see that Joseph’s understanding of how God works allows Him to show mercy.
19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? 20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. 21 So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.
As for you. My evil, wicked, hateful brothers. You meant your plotting, your hatred, your selling me into slavery. All of your actions against me, you meant for evil. But God, my creator, my redeemer, the one who has been with me through all of this, meant it for good. He meant it. Don’t you ever let anyone say that God used it. He meant it. Why? To bring it about that many people should be kept alive as they are today. To illustrate this idea. I’m going to quote from a book that you all actually have access to through the faithlife study bible app. It’s a short read but a good one!
Does God Control Everything? God Meant It All for Good
What would have happened in the history of the world if Jacob had not given Joseph a colorful coat? No coat, no jealousy. No jealousy, no treacherous sale of Joseph to Midianite traders. No sale of Joseph to Midianite traders, no descent into Egypt. No descent into Egypt, no meeting with Potiphar. No meeting with Potiphar, no trouble with his wife. No trouble with his wife, no imprisonment. No imprisonment, no interpretation of the dreams of Pharaoh. No interpretation of the dreams of Pharaoh, no elevation to the role of prime minister. No elevation to the role of prime minister, no reconciliation with his brothers. No reconciliation with his brothers, no migration of the Jewish people into Egypt. No migration into Egypt, no exodus out of Egypt. No exodus out of Egypt, no Moses, no law, no prophets—and no Christ! Do you think it was an accident in the plan of God that that coat happened? God meant it all for good.
Look at all of the stories we have examined in this series. Creation, the fall, the promise of Abraham, The story of David, the crucifixion of Jesus, all the way up to us. God has meant all of it for good. For His glory. Let’s finish this prayer.
29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, 30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
When the early church acknowledged the sovereignty of God, it brought them great comfort in the midst of struggle. It brought them assurance in the presence of doubt. It brought them hope while being imprisoned and murdered in the streets. This is a similar prayer that I pray over my middle schoolers and over you guys. That you speak the Word with boldness, proclaiming the Gospel, fully knowing that the power does not rest in you but it Jesus. The author of our salvation.
Let’s finish with Paul. Using this same thought process to give comfort to the Roman Church.
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
All things work together for good. That good might not be prosperity or fame in this life, but it will conform us to the image of Christ and benefit us in eternity.
29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
This is what is known as the Golden Chain of Redemption. As this is the steps that every believer goes through. Those whom he foreknew, this is not to simply knowing something will happen, this is to intimately know someone. Before the foundations of the earth had been laid, he foreknew His people.
Those whom he foreknew, He also predestined. He set it in stone, that these people He foreknew would be conformed to the image of His son by Calling them.
This call is the effectual calling of the Holy Spirit. This is when conversion happens. Those who are called by God and born again are now justified.
These are the same people whom the Father had given Jesus. They are justified before the Father, they are made right in His sight because of the sacrifice of the Son on their behalf. Those that are Justified, those that the Son made the payment for will be glorified. Raised up on the last day. None of this has anything to do with you, and everything to do with God.
And this is why we can take great comfort in what Paul says next.
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
If God is for us, who can be against us? No one. He gave his Son for us, believers, so how can anyone bring a charge against God’s elect? Believers. Those that the Father has given the Son. Who will bring a charge against God’s elect?
Because it is God and God alone who Justifies.
34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
Paul is raising all of these questions. And giving answers. Who is to Condemn? Christ died, and is at the right hand of God interceding for His people. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? And Paul spends the rest of the chapter answering this question. Shall tribulation? Or Distress? or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We are more than Conquers through the power of Christ. Paul is sure, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit he writes, Not death or life, angels, demons, present struggles, future struggles, or powers, or hight nor depth, and in case he missed something, anything else in all of creation. In case you didn’t know, everything except God himself is creation. So there is nothing that can separate us from the love on Christ. This powerful, unstoppable, irresistible love of God.
Takeaway
Takeaway
As you go into this week. I do not know what kind of struggles you have. I do not know what responsibilities or pressures that you have weighing on you. I don’t know what is going to happen in 10 minutes, 2 weeks, or 15 years. I do not know a lot of things. But I know who knows everything, who is sovereign over everything, and is working all things for our good and His glory. Pray the prayer of the disciples, read and be comforted by the Word of God. Be comforted in His Character and His power. Your heavenly Father is not only powerful enough to save you, but preserve you and keep you, and raise you up on the last day. Rest your head on your pillow tonight knowing whatever comes your way has to go through God first.
Lets Pray