back to index2016-12-18 All Things in God's Almighty Hands
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Alright, if you can turn your Bibles with me to Romans chapter 8. 00:00:09.120 |
Our main focus is going to be verse 28, but I want to read it in context, verse 26 through 00:00:19.720 |
"Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know what to pray for as we 00:00:24.740 |
ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 00:00:30.320 |
And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes 00:00:37.000 |
And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good. 00:00:41.020 |
For those who are called according to His purpose, for those whom He foreknew, He also 00:00:45.480 |
predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn 00:00:51.800 |
And those whom He predestined, He also called, and those whom He called, He also justified. 00:00:56.840 |
And those whom He justified, He also glorified." 00:01:05.120 |
Heavenly Father, we pray that as we've been studying through Romans and refreshing and 00:01:11.340 |
renewing our perspective and understanding of Your grace in our lives, I pray that it 00:01:17.080 |
would more than just renew our minds, but our hearts, and more than just our hearts, 00:01:25.400 |
I pray that You would give us help by the Holy Spirit to apply all of these things, 00:01:29.440 |
Lord God, that our life may truly be a living sacrifice. 00:01:34.400 |
We ask for Your grace this morning as we understand Your grace and Your sovereignty, that it really 00:01:39.760 |
would make the impact that You desire and that You have ordained in Your Word. 00:01:46.360 |
I think one of the most important doctrines, at least the fundamental doctrines, that we 00:01:55.960 |
need to be convinced about is the sovereignty of God. 00:01:59.760 |
Because our security in Christ is absolutely dependent, it's linked to His sovereignty. 00:02:06.760 |
Apostle Paul has been reassuring us that the reason why we can be secure in our salvation 00:02:14.520 |
He didn't just justify us, He also gave us the Holy Spirit that even in things that we 00:02:18.760 |
are weak in, the Holy Spirit is groaning on our behalf, praying and interceding constantly. 00:02:24.960 |
But even beyond just the Holy Spirit, the Scripture tells us that we have absolute security 00:02:29.880 |
because our God is sovereign, absolutely sovereign. 00:02:37.640 |
I have oftentimes get into discussions with people who have issues with predestination, 00:02:43.680 |
and I think I shared this before, in the earlier years of our church when Calvinism or predestination 00:02:51.560 |
It was, you kind of had pockets of people who were Calvinists. 00:02:55.960 |
But I had people straight up come and tell me, "If you're a Calvinist, I can't come to 00:03:01.480 |
Well, sad thing is the Scripture actually uses the term predestination. 00:03:07.600 |
So if you don't believe in predestination, you have to reinterpret what the Scripture 00:03:12.520 |
And I think the reason why people have a hard time with predestination is because if God 00:03:18.560 |
has predetermined salvation, that means we don't have any control. 00:03:23.320 |
And somehow it seems unfair if God didn't leave it up to us. 00:03:26.760 |
He just said, "Here's the truth, and here's the way of salvation. 00:03:32.360 |
And thinking somehow that seems more fair and just than for Him to sovereignly elect 00:03:39.120 |
Well, in human logic, it may sound legitimate, but to say that God is not sovereign, that 00:03:46.760 |
God has not elected us, is no different than saying to tell an individual who's colorblind, 00:03:52.680 |
and tell them that if you don't match all the colors in the right places, that you can't 00:03:59.360 |
Or you tell a young toddler, say, "Here, I'm going to give you a hundred bucks, and I'll 00:04:05.000 |
Hopefully I can meet you on the other side of the country. 00:04:07.520 |
And I've given you the free choice to do that. 00:04:10.400 |
So if I give you the free choice to do that, and if you make it, you're saved." 00:04:16.000 |
See, the scripture describes that we are dead in our trespasses. 00:04:23.280 |
That we are dead in our, our ability to discern what is right or wrong, what is truth, what 00:04:31.720 |
So to give that option, saying, "Oh, here's the truth, and you come and get it by your 00:04:36.720 |
own volition," is no different than telling a toddler, "Here, I'm giving you the choice. 00:04:42.560 |
I'm going to be a good parent, and I'm going to be a fair and just parent, and I'm going 00:04:46.520 |
to tell you all the right thing to do, but it's up to you to choose it and do the right 00:04:53.320 |
The Bible describes that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 00:04:58.240 |
That we've lost the ability in our natural being to be able to discern right and wrong. 00:05:04.320 |
So by our own effort here in the Gospel, we don't have the ability in our fallen nature 00:05:11.200 |
to discern what is good and what is right, to even pursue Him, to have an appetite for 00:05:17.740 |
So the Bible describes it, and that's what we've been studying in the Book of Romans. 00:05:20.760 |
The whole reason why we even had an appetite, why we even repented, is because the scripture 00:05:25.560 |
says it's His kindness that led us to repentance. 00:05:30.160 |
Why were you able to hear the Gospel and understand it and believe it? 00:05:42.760 |
Now, I know when we talk about that, you know, there's always going to be a question, "Well, 00:05:50.460 |
We don't have the answers to all the questions. 00:05:53.440 |
But the scripture clearly defines and identifies, and the reason why we have absolute security 00:06:02.000 |
The God who justified us, that same energy that justifies us, will also sanctify us, 00:06:08.880 |
and that same passion that sanctified us will also glorify us. 00:06:14.000 |
If our God is not absolutely sovereign, absolutely sovereign, we can't have security. 00:06:22.440 |
If it's just a, you know, God left that up to us, and He does His part and we do our 00:06:27.240 |
part and our sovereignty is contingent upon two parts meeting at the center, we can't 00:06:36.720 |
The reason why we have absolute security is because our God, who promises, has absolute 00:06:45.760 |
The text that we're looking at in Romans chapter 8, 28, is a passage that we often quote. 00:06:50.400 |
My guess is a lot of you have already memorized it. 00:06:53.420 |
You probably use it to encourage other people who are going through hard times and suffering. 00:06:59.900 |
But this is one of those texts that is a great passage and is a great source of encouragement. 00:07:05.760 |
And just like a lot of other texts in the Bible, that if we're not careful, we can actually 00:07:09.620 |
misunderstand and misapply what Paul means by this text. 00:07:14.080 |
So we want to make sure that we understand what it says so that our application is consistent 00:07:20.640 |
So I want to read that passage again because that's going to be our main focus this morning. 00:07:24.720 |
Verse 28, "And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, 00:07:30.540 |
for those who are called according to His purpose." 00:07:33.560 |
So there's three things that I want to highlight just in this verse. 00:07:37.160 |
First of all, he says, "We know," and in summary, he said, "We know that God is sovereign." 00:07:44.560 |
If you, again, the text that I read previously, Paul says, "The reason why the Holy Spirit 00:07:50.740 |
is given to us is because we don't know what to pray for." 00:07:54.100 |
There's a lot of things that we don't understand. 00:07:56.020 |
Again, even the things about predestination, we don't fully understand them. 00:08:03.460 |
And we have all of these questions that we don't fully get. 00:08:07.480 |
But Paul says, "In contrast to the things that we don't get, even though we don't know 00:08:10.620 |
what to pray for, the Holy Spirit intercedes and cries out on our behalf." 00:08:17.580 |
What we do know is that our God is absolutely sovereign, that He works all things for good, 00:08:24.460 |
for those who love and who have been called according to His purpose. 00:08:29.300 |
In fact, that's a confession not only of some Christians, but every Christian, that we know 00:08:36.780 |
See, sovereignty of God, believing in His absolute sovereign power, is directly connected 00:08:47.140 |
If God is not absolutely sovereign, and if there is even 1% chance that even after He 00:08:52.820 |
said everything, that there's even a 1% chance that that is not going to happen, then God 00:09:03.240 |
The reason why God is able to tell the nation of Israel, "Do not turn from My Word to the 00:09:09.500 |
left or to the right, if you want to be successful." 00:09:13.020 |
This is as they're entering into the Promised Land, and about to go into a battle with a 00:09:20.700 |
city, with a nation of people who completely slaughtered them. 00:09:24.620 |
By any human reason, they should have been absolutely slaughtered by the Canaanites. 00:09:29.540 |
And the only instruction He gives them is, "Trust Me, do not turn from Me to the left 00:09:40.160 |
That would be a ridiculous command, humanly speaking. 00:09:43.280 |
The only reason why God is able to say that is because He's absolutely sovereign. 00:09:48.860 |
The only reason why we're able to have any confidence in the Word of God is because God 00:09:55.220 |
He's not predicting the future as something that the Bible teaches. 00:10:03.300 |
See, His promise and comfort would be absolutely nullified if our God is an absolutely sovereign. 00:10:13.400 |
Of all the other things that I can rely on, God is probably better." 00:10:20.900 |
I can make promise to my children and say, "You know what? 00:10:28.540 |
That's my intention, and I will give my best effort to take care of my children, but I 00:10:38.780 |
I don't have control of finances, my own emotions. 00:10:47.340 |
So it is good advice, or it is good intention. 00:10:52.180 |
But God's promises are not just simply good intentions. 00:10:56.940 |
God says it, and He's able to fulfill it because God is absolutely sovereign. 00:11:01.880 |
Or else, it's no different than me saying, "You know, I'm going to take care of you." 00:11:07.580 |
Our hope, our hope would be nothing more than wishful thinking. 00:11:12.280 |
If the book of Revelation is just a book where God has kind of written because He's looking 00:11:17.720 |
into a glass, and He's looking into the future, and He sees it. 00:11:21.900 |
He's just a better fortune teller than any other fortune teller, right? 00:11:27.380 |
If that's all prophecy is, we can't have absolute security. 00:11:38.820 |
He can say that because God is sovereign over all things. 00:11:43.060 |
If He's not sovereign over all things, there's things that are happening in your life that 00:11:46.260 |
is completely random, that God has absolutely no control over. 00:11:52.140 |
He can say what He is saying in Romans 8, 28, because God is completely in control. 00:11:57.900 |
He's not only sovereign over some things and have no sovereignty over us. 00:12:07.500 |
But God doesn't have any sovereignty over us. 00:12:11.580 |
He doesn't control us because it wouldn't be fair. 00:12:18.260 |
In Job 42, 2, it says, "I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours 00:12:26.000 |
The reason why no purpose of His can be thwarted is because no one can resist God. 00:12:33.900 |
Psalm 135, 6, "Whatever the Lord pleases, He does in heaven and on earth, in the seas 00:12:46.480 |
He doesn't have a plan that somehow we're getting in the way. 00:12:49.940 |
The Scripture says, "He does what He pleases because our God is absolutely sovereign." 00:12:54.580 |
Numbers 23, 19, "God is not man that He should lie, nor the Son of Man that He should change 00:13:01.900 |
He doesn't plan one thing and then say, "Well, we're going to go to plan B because my plan 00:13:15.100 |
If our God is not sovereign, absolutely sovereign, these are good sayings. 00:13:20.740 |
It may comfort our hearts, but it has no practical application because He's not in control. 00:13:27.860 |
The reason why we have absolute security and we read the Scripture as fact, not just encouraging 00:13:35.060 |
words but as facts, is because the God who wrote them is in absolute control. 00:13:43.340 |
God is not standing by the sideline watching human history, watching your life and my life 00:13:47.940 |
unravel and just watching and making predictions. 00:13:57.620 |
What we do know is that all things work together for good for those who love Him according 00:14:09.020 |
We don't know how it works, but we do know that our God is in control. 00:14:12.860 |
Isaiah 46.10, declaring the end from the beginning. 00:14:19.540 |
Even from the very beginning, He declared the end. 00:14:28.900 |
There's things that He's not in control of that He can see way down the line, millions 00:14:33.020 |
of years down the line, and that's why He's able to say from the beginning what is at 00:14:38.540 |
No, He's able to declare the end from the beginning because He is in control over the 00:14:48.420 |
Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times, things not yet done. 00:14:53.140 |
Saying my counsel shall stand and I will accomplish my purpose. 00:14:59.820 |
He declares the end from the beginning because He says my purpose cannot be thwarted. 00:15:11.180 |
That's why Romans 11.36, it says, "For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. 00:15:22.860 |
Christianity, it hinges upon the sovereignty of God. 00:15:28.900 |
If God is not sovereign, then every promise that He made is a maybe. 00:15:47.540 |
If He's not absolutely sovereign and He doesn't have control and there's some outside force 00:15:52.900 |
that can stop Him or thwart His purpose, then every promise in Scripture becomes a maybe, 00:16:02.500 |
Every security that we have hinges upon this doctrine of His sovereignty. 00:16:09.020 |
In fact, there's a lot of practical application to this. 00:16:12.340 |
Not just about the big picture in history, but it's even just our daily lives. 00:16:22.620 |
When things go completely out of whack and you don't understand, what causes you to continue 00:16:32.500 |
We wrestle with believing, but what we believe does not change. 00:16:38.580 |
We may not understand, but what we do know is that our God is in charge. 00:16:43.780 |
See, this promise that He made, this we know. 00:16:50.900 |
But the second observation I want to make with you is that this promise is not a universal 00:16:57.860 |
It is a very specific promise that is made to those who love Him, who have been called 00:17:03.500 |
Now, He's not distinguishing between two separate people. 00:17:07.020 |
He's not saying that God is sovereign or here's a group of people who love Him and here's 00:17:18.400 |
Those who have been chosen are the ones who love Him. 00:17:22.380 |
John 6, 65, He says, "And He said, 'This is why I told you that no one can come to Me 00:17:33.100 |
The whole reason why we heard the Gospel and repented is because God chose us. 00:17:44.900 |
The reason why you are in a certain situation, that why you had certain friends, why you 00:17:49.160 |
were born in a certain family, all of these things that God orchestrated and analyzed 00:17:52.880 |
because God's sovereign plan was being revealed in your life. 00:17:58.280 |
Matthew 11, 27, "All things have been handed over to Me by My Father and no one knows the 00:18:03.680 |
Son except the Father and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the 00:18:13.200 |
Now, we may say, you know, "I met this person and I did that and I did this and that," and 00:18:20.460 |
We may have chosen to do that, but what caused you to hear that and to believe? 00:18:33.080 |
If you like brownies, you didn't wake up and say, "I'm going to like it today." 00:18:38.140 |
No, you put it in your mouth like, "Mmm, delicious." 00:18:42.500 |
And somebody else puts it in their mouth like, "Mmm, I don't like it." 00:18:46.740 |
You know, when I was a little kid, I didn't like chocolate. 00:18:53.460 |
It just tasted bitter to me because God didn't give me a sweet tongue. 00:19:03.100 |
Anything sweet, you can eat a gallon of, whatever it is. 00:19:08.220 |
I mean, my taste buds is more sweet and sour, you know, beef jerky, like that kind of stuff. 00:19:24.140 |
I mean, you can learn to change it, but you put it in your mouth like, "Oh, I like it." 00:19:30.380 |
To think that we woke up one day and said, "You know what? 00:19:34.660 |
See, the Scripture says the whole reason why even your appetite for the things of God changed, 00:19:41.460 |
why you all of a sudden heard the Gospel and believed and repented and decided to follow 00:19:49.100 |
The Son of God chose to reveal Himself to you. 00:19:54.220 |
And again, Ephesians 1, 4-5, "Even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, 00:20:00.580 |
that we should be holy and blameless before Him in love, He predestined us for the adoption 00:20:07.240 |
through Jesus Christ according to the purpose of His will." 00:20:10.300 |
You know, in the earlier part of the church where, again, Calvinism and predestination 00:20:13.860 |
was not popular, it is kind of like in this generation now, I've had so many conversations, 00:20:20.780 |
And I would always take him to this text and say, "Well, He says, 'He predestined us.'" 00:20:26.780 |
In Ephesians 1, 11, "In Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according 00:20:31.660 |
to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will." 00:20:37.980 |
In fact, if you wrestle with this doctrine of election and predestination, I encourage 00:20:43.620 |
you to take time to comb through the first three chapters of Ephesians. 00:20:49.020 |
The first three chapters of Ephesians is basically the doctrine of election that he goes in depth. 00:20:55.700 |
And over and over again, he says, "He called us, He elected us, He chose us according to 00:21:00.660 |
His purpose, according to His pleasure, according to His will." 00:21:13.620 |
And so human history unraveled in order for this to happen. 00:21:16.580 |
Now I know, as soon as I say that, "Well, then what about this? 00:21:28.860 |
God did not reveal to us the intricate details of how predestination and human responsibility 00:21:41.880 |
Maybe it is revealed and we just don't get it. 00:21:45.540 |
But what He did reveal is His absolute sovereignty. 00:21:51.620 |
And sometimes we get so caught up in trying to understand this predestination that we 00:21:58.460 |
That here's what I understand, here's what I don't understand. 00:22:04.060 |
And as a result of that, we miss the whole point of what God is trying to say. 00:22:09.340 |
The whole point of why He talks about election and His predestination and His sovereign will 00:22:14.020 |
and purpose is to remind us that you have absolute security. 00:22:26.060 |
You can bank on even more than your bank statements. 00:22:30.220 |
Even more than your friends and whatever circumstances that you have. 00:22:39.780 |
You can bank on the promises of God because our God is absolutely sovereign. 00:22:47.740 |
That's His main purpose of why He teaches us Romans 8.28. 00:22:52.100 |
That no matter how chaotic, no matter how our life just goes out of spin and we don't 00:22:58.180 |
understand it, He says we don't know what to pray for. 00:23:01.860 |
But what we do know is that our God is working. 00:23:10.820 |
Whatever circumstances that you may be in that you don't fully understand, we don't 00:23:16.060 |
We don't know exactly how this is going to fit together. 00:23:18.580 |
But we do know that God who loves us, who is almighty and all powerful and all sovereign, 00:23:30.520 |
Because He called us and those He called are the ones He says that love. 00:23:38.540 |
So you see how He uses the term, the called and those who love God interchangeably? 00:23:47.780 |
Romans 5.5 it says, "And hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured 00:23:51.900 |
into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." 00:23:55.420 |
And again, you know this past 1 John 4.19, "We love because He first loved us." 00:24:02.560 |
So a Christian, a Christian simply is somebody who loves God. 00:24:13.580 |
And it is because you love God you come to church. 00:24:15.780 |
It is because you love God you go to missions and you share the gospel and you pray because 00:24:22.200 |
But coming to church doesn't mean you love God. 00:24:26.300 |
That's why the scripture says you can pray tongues with men and of angels if you don't 00:24:33.420 |
It is nothing more than a clanging cymbal or empty gong. 00:24:38.500 |
In fact, He goes so far as to say even if I give my body to be burned and have not love 00:24:45.700 |
Because at the core of what Christianity is and who we are as a Christian is one who loves 00:24:52.740 |
It is not one of many qualities of a Christian. 00:24:58.220 |
Basically to call a Christian basically is to say he's a lover of God. 00:25:02.000 |
Maybe we should say that again instead of saying we're Christians. 00:25:12.180 |
In 1 Corinthians 2.9 it says, "But as it is written, 'No eye has seen, no ear has heard, 00:25:17.660 |
nor the heart of man imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.'" 00:25:22.020 |
Is he talking about a select group of Christians? 00:25:25.340 |
Here's the elect and then here's a group of people who really love God. 00:25:31.940 |
Ephesians 6.24, "Grace be with all of you, all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love 00:25:38.640 |
Is he talking about grace to some people who are elected who happen to love God and then 00:25:48.260 |
No, he's talking to all Christians and he describes them as lovers of God. 00:25:53.740 |
James 1.12, "Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial for when he has stood 00:25:58.060 |
the test he will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love him." 00:26:04.980 |
So loving God and believing in God is equated as same thing. 00:26:15.020 |
So you know, you hear this, the first thing that you're going to start thinking to yourself 00:26:34.860 |
Now all of us, you know, at some points we wrestle with this, but the most fundamental 00:26:39.500 |
question we should ask is, "Am I doing enough?" 00:26:49.880 |
And oftentimes we get the answer, "Oh, I've been doing quiet time," or "I haven't been 00:26:55.020 |
You can do all of that the rest of your life and still not be a lover of God. 00:26:59.320 |
If you can give your body to be burned and have not love and be nothing, you can do quiet 00:27:03.940 |
time and have not love and absolutely be nothing. 00:27:08.340 |
So when we ask ourselves how we're doing spiritually, the question that we need to be asking is, 00:27:17.780 |
I remember as a young Christian reading through the scripture and I realized just how central 00:27:25.420 |
If the greatest commandment, if all of the commandment can be summed up in, "Love the 00:27:29.900 |
Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength," it's not one of many qualities, 00:27:34.500 |
it's the quality that determines whether you are a follower of Christ or not. 00:27:39.580 |
It is the quality that determines if you've given right worship or not. 00:27:44.500 |
It's the quality that causes you to see scripture differently, why you evangelize, why you pray. 00:27:49.260 |
It is the motivation behind everything that we do. 00:27:53.060 |
It is not one of many qualities, it is the quality that identifies a Christian, a lover 00:28:02.260 |
I remember as a young Christian I was wrestling with this and I think, "Well, if it's the 00:28:06.020 |
quality, I can say I believe in God, but do I love God with all my heart, mind, and soul, 00:28:15.980 |
And at that time, I wasn't married, I didn't have children, the only thing I can compare 00:28:29.380 |
I said, "I don't think I can say that confidently." 00:28:34.380 |
And I remember wrestling with that and I would ask people, "What does it mean to love God?" 00:28:37.460 |
And I would get all kinds of advice, "Just say it. 00:28:43.860 |
I love you God, I love you God, I love you God. 00:28:48.340 |
So I don't know how many times I would sit in prayer and I would just say, "I love you 00:28:53.180 |
He said a hundred times, so I had to be a hundred, not 99 times, but a hundred times. 00:29:00.780 |
I know I'm young, but this doesn't make sense." 00:29:04.820 |
I remember when it really hit me, and again, this commandment to love God, it was during 00:29:14.740 |
a period when I was trying to move away from my secular friends because they were a bad 00:29:19.300 |
influence on my life, and I was probably a bad influence on them. 00:29:23.020 |
And I was trying to make Christian friends, but I wasn't in the Christian world yet. 00:29:27.220 |
I was moving away from my old life and trying to embrace a new life, and I was kind of caught 00:29:31.940 |
And it was during that time when I was working full time, going to school full time, and 00:29:37.500 |
I remember one day, I wasn't living at my parents' house at the time, I was living by 00:29:40.740 |
myself, and I happened to be in the closet praying and doing my quiet time. 00:29:49.420 |
I said, "If I died today, how long would it take for somebody to notice that I was gone?" 00:29:59.700 |
And then, as I was thinking that, I was thinking, "Ah, maybe three months. 00:30:03.700 |
And the first person who would notice is probably my mom. 00:30:09.700 |
And she would usually send my older brother to come look for me. 00:30:14.780 |
So it would take, my guess was about two to three months. 00:30:21.980 |
To think that you could be gone for that long and it would take that long for somebody in 00:30:27.660 |
But at the same time, as I was having this depressing thought, this moody moment, a thought 00:30:40.060 |
And then I started thinking, "Not only does God know that I'm here, He sent His only begotten 00:30:50.500 |
I mean, a God who knows, I mean, I can pray and He's hearing my prayers. 00:30:55.900 |
I mean, God would know, He even knows what I'm thinking at this moment. 00:31:00.680 |
And I started thinking, and no thought I had at that moment was any different than what 00:31:11.740 |
That the gospel that I've been embracing and I've been singing about, that changed me. 00:31:19.700 |
That He didn't just love the world, He loved me. 00:31:25.060 |
He didn't just die for the sins of the world, He died for me. 00:31:29.820 |
And I remember just thinking, "Wow, I'm having all these moody thoughts." 00:31:38.540 |
And yet God used that to remind me why He came. 00:31:43.300 |
And as the scripture says, "My love for Him grew because He first loved me, because His 00:31:51.640 |
It wasn't just some theology, it wasn't just something we were studying, it became real 00:31:58.380 |
And it is difficult to love something or someone that loves you that much. 00:32:05.860 |
Even a dog, those of you guys who own pets, if your dog came and bit you every day, you 00:32:18.540 |
I mean, I think a lot of people like pets and dogs because supposedly they give you 00:32:28.500 |
Stop feeding that dog for a while, they don't give you unconditional love. 00:32:33.420 |
But whatever the case, it's hard not to love something or someone that loves you that much. 00:32:42.860 |
You remember, now that even though you're older, despite everything that you've said 00:32:48.020 |
to them and done to them, they stuck with you and they were patient. 00:32:55.040 |
Your love for them is a response to what they did for you. 00:33:00.900 |
Husband and wife, after all these years, all the dumb things you'd said and did and selfishness 00:33:06.820 |
and despite all of that, all these years, they stuck with you. 00:33:12.140 |
And they love you, they serve you, they protect you. 00:33:21.380 |
It's hard not to love somebody that loves you that much. 00:33:26.620 |
And then to think that this love that we sing about and profess every single Sunday is beyond 00:33:33.620 |
anything that you and I have ever imagined, we can articulate. 00:33:38.460 |
The only reason that doesn't affect us is because we've been distracted and our faith 00:33:45.460 |
But the moment that becomes real to you, we're always searching for something new. 00:33:56.120 |
If you've lost your first love, he says, remember the height from which you had fallen. 00:34:01.340 |
Remember it doesn't say go look for something new. 00:34:04.500 |
It's the fundamental things that cause you to be a believer of Christ you strayed from. 00:34:08.900 |
He says, so remember the height from which you had fallen. 00:34:13.740 |
Maybe the reason why it's harder for us to respond in love is because it's just become 00:34:20.080 |
It's just become theology, but it's not real. 00:34:30.520 |
And that's why he equates somebody who has been chosen by God is a one who loves God. 00:34:40.100 |
The motivation behind why he sent his only begotten son is unimaginable. 00:34:44.220 |
I mean, isn't that the reason even when you have a tendency to drift that always God brings 00:34:51.660 |
you back is when God reminds you of his grace and love for you. 00:34:57.580 |
Even when you rebel, what caused you to repent? 00:35:02.780 |
Wasn't it when the love of God just gripped your heart? 00:35:08.540 |
That's why he says all things work together for good for those who love him, who have 00:35:20.820 |
James 1 12, blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial for when he has stood 00:35:25.180 |
the test, he will receive the crown of life to which God has promised to those who love 00:35:34.740 |
The word working together is synergy where we get the word synergy. 00:35:41.300 |
It means that all of these things God is orchestrating to bring it together. 00:35:46.620 |
Now whenever we talk about the sovereignty of God and predestination, it's really hard 00:35:49.700 |
to understand because I just raised my hand, right? 00:36:02.180 |
So we always wrestle with how does this work? 00:36:05.200 |
But even non-Calvinist, when they describe their salvation, always becomes a Calvinist, 00:36:12.460 |
They always talk about how God orchestrated their life to bring them to a certain point. 00:36:17.100 |
Even though they have a hard time and they reject predestination going forward, they 00:36:21.500 |
always become a predestination person when they talk about their past life. 00:36:28.100 |
Oh, you know, my parents moved here and God somehow allowed me to run into this person 00:36:36.140 |
and God somehow opened the door for me to come to this church. 00:36:41.500 |
And so we become a Calvinist when we talk about our past and how we got here. 00:36:48.460 |
Whatever your testimony is, every single one of us will confess that we can see God's 00:36:53.820 |
sovereign hands upon your life that caused you to come to a certain point to hear the 00:36:58.420 |
gospel and understand and accept and repent and come. 00:37:03.860 |
Whether you like the term predestination or not. 00:37:11.180 |
You know that God orchestrated certain things. 00:37:14.860 |
I remember before I became a Christian, I was one angry kid. 00:37:23.140 |
And I didn't realize this when I was, when we first came to the United States, I was 00:37:26.940 |
just excited about coming to the US and having all the bananas in the world. 00:37:31.100 |
You know, like I love bananas and Korea bananas was too expensive. 00:37:34.660 |
And so I was looking forward to having bananas. 00:37:38.300 |
And so that's all I remember the first time coming to the United States. 00:37:41.100 |
My parents decided to go back about four or five years after we were here. 00:37:45.820 |
And by that time, you know, that the honeymoon of coming to the US has already died down. 00:37:51.260 |
You know, I'm being called a dumb chink, you know, so many times I thought that was my 00:37:55.860 |
middle name, you know, and then going back to Korea, I said, Oh, I'm going back to my 00:38:01.380 |
And then hearing from, from my Korean friends to go back to your country. 00:38:08.700 |
And I got confused and going, you know, you're about to hit puberty. 00:38:15.340 |
And so second time my parents decided to come back to the United States, I was bitter and 00:38:20.100 |
And on top of that, my parents moved around so much. 00:38:24.180 |
And so by the time I was 15, 16 years old, I was, my behavior was so destructive. 00:38:33.060 |
I was already getting into trouble with the police. 00:38:36.260 |
And literally, I mean, I could care less if I lived or died at that moment. 00:38:43.220 |
And I remember when I met the Lord at the retreat. 00:38:47.660 |
All of a sudden, that instantaneously, all of a sudden, everything made sense. 00:38:54.820 |
Because all of that stuff, all of the anger that I had, all the pain that I was experiencing, 00:39:02.500 |
God orchestrated all of that to bring me to a point so that I could listen to Him and 00:39:10.060 |
And so all of that, all this stuff, all this thing that made me angry, all of a sudden, 00:39:15.700 |
knowing that God was behind it, made sense to me. 00:39:21.860 |
And that's why, from that moment on, I said, "You know, I'm going to spend the rest of 00:39:25.740 |
I mean, I was at the verge of just jumping off a bridge. 00:39:28.500 |
And all of a sudden, God gives me this new life. 00:39:30.500 |
And everything that I've experienced up to this point made sense. 00:39:33.380 |
I didn't understand the predestination at that time. 00:39:36.460 |
I didn't understand the sovereignty and how this works. 00:39:39.820 |
All I knew was that all of it was a purpose, and I clearly saw it. 00:39:46.420 |
Every single one of us, whether your testimony was dramatic or whether you think it's mundane, 00:39:52.260 |
God orchestrated your life in such a way so that you would hear the Gospel and that you 00:40:01.260 |
So you can clearly see that all things up to this point have been working towards what 00:40:12.260 |
This church, oftentimes, now that a church is certain size, we have young pastors coming 00:40:19.180 |
into town saying, "You're going to plant a church." 00:40:21.580 |
And I would meet up with them, and they would ask me, "Oh, you've been, your church has 00:40:27.100 |
And can you give me some advice for church planting?" 00:40:30.660 |
And my usual advice is, "Hang on for dear life." 00:40:36.860 |
Because our church was not a normal church plant. 00:40:41.660 |
I didn't have this great idea, "We're going to plant this church. 00:40:43.820 |
We're going to reach or remind students, and we're going to use this strategy, so we need 00:40:48.140 |
this much funding, and we need these many people." 00:40:54.580 |
I was almost done with ministry, on the verge of quitting. 00:40:58.780 |
And then I heard, I got a phone call from a former student of mine who was a college 00:41:03.980 |
freshman or sophomore, saying that this church, this church, at that time it was called Harvest 00:41:10.300 |
He said, "The Harvest Community Church got planted, and the pastor who planted the church 00:41:19.880 |
And I got a phone call saying, "Hey, Peter, we heard that you're in between church." 00:41:23.900 |
So I was at another church, and that church ended up splitting in half. 00:41:27.140 |
So I ended up coming out in between church, and I was really contemplating just going 00:41:32.460 |
And I get a phone call, "Hey, we need your help, because the church is about to dissolve." 00:41:37.780 |
And it was an English ministry of a Korean church that became independent. 00:41:44.600 |
So the only reason why I ended up going back is because, one, I was burnt out, and I wasn't 00:41:52.900 |
So I thought that would be a safe place for me to be, just kind of go there, and just 00:41:57.140 |
kind of watch over them, because I already know these kids, and I felt like they're 00:42:02.940 |
So it was more to kind of do a supporting work, and hopefully they would stabilize 00:42:08.300 |
I had no desire, no plans to do church planting. 00:42:12.660 |
Once we got there, we found out the senior pastor who came in as an interim had a completely 00:42:19.640 |
He wanted us to be more Koreanized, speak Korean, sing Korean songs. 00:42:23.380 |
It's like, we have people who aren't Korean in our congregation. 00:42:28.140 |
And he was very charismatic, and theologically that just didn't fit. 00:42:32.060 |
So he was making certain demands, and so we begged him, I begged him to allow us to stay, 00:42:38.420 |
because this church, if we go out, we're going to die. 00:42:41.700 |
You know, we have college freshmen are the oldest people in our church. 00:42:47.340 |
And I just had a kid, you know, I have a young family. 00:42:53.220 |
We tried for about a whole year, and it just didn't work out. 00:42:57.680 |
So they asked us to go, and so we ended up leaving. 00:43:01.700 |
Long story short, a lot of things happened the first six, seven years of the church, 00:43:07.380 |
The only reason why we stuck together is because I was afraid that the early members of the 00:43:16.740 |
It wasn't because we had this vision of a church, or we want to reach Irvine, and had 00:43:22.500 |
I may have had that about six, seven years before the church plant, but by the time this 00:43:32.380 |
And I had a bunch of young guys who had no idea what they were doing, and I didn't think 00:43:37.700 |
And so we just stuck together, and just had worship on Sunday, and had Bible study on 00:43:44.100 |
And then we had another kid, and another kid, and added more financial burdens to the church. 00:43:51.180 |
I look back at the first six, seven years of our church history, we shouldn't be here. 00:43:56.440 |
And trust me, I had every friend that I had in my life who was concerned for me, give 00:44:09.500 |
Come to my church, they'll take care of your needs. 00:44:12.620 |
And again, the reason why I share with you all of this stuff is because whatever benefit 00:44:19.500 |
that you may have benefited from this ministry, human perspective was completely random. 00:44:28.660 |
But obviously we don't believe it was random. 00:44:33.580 |
I couldn't have foreseen that six, seven years into the church. 00:44:39.940 |
So we can see God's sovereign plan, why He did what He did. 00:44:45.180 |
Why He made us go through all of that, and how He used that to bring us where we are 00:44:50.500 |
It wasn't orchestrated, it wasn't planned, it wasn't because we had this lofty vision, 00:44:59.500 |
And the moment that we forget that our God is sovereign is when we are weak. 00:45:03.860 |
When we think that if we're smart enough, if we're clever enough, so somehow we can 00:45:10.980 |
See, the scripture reminds us that God is the one who's working. 00:45:18.980 |
He's the one who's putting all of this, even the things that you don't understand, especially 00:45:25.740 |
You know why we started going out to China for missions? 00:45:29.380 |
During that period, I had to pay bills, and so I became an ESL teacher. 00:45:39.300 |
And the whole time I was teaching ESL, I was, "What am I doing?" 00:45:44.540 |
I was spending about four or five hours teaching ESL, and another about hour and a half preparing 00:45:50.260 |
So basically all my day was filled with teaching ESL. 00:45:54.620 |
And while the church was struggling, and so for five years I was doing this, I'm like, 00:45:58.660 |
"Wow, God, you called me into ministry, and I'm doing all this, and I'm spending basically 00:46:02.940 |
morning till night thinking about how to teach English." 00:46:08.620 |
And then in the midst of that, I got news that China's beginning to open up and allowing 00:46:14.180 |
foreigners to come in, and our in is to come and teach English to the students. 00:46:19.820 |
At that time, foreigners weren't coming in and out of China like that in 1999, 2000. 00:46:25.400 |
So because we were able to teach English, and I had the English credential, I contacted 00:46:29.360 |
our Southern Baptist Mission Board and told them, "Hey, I'm an ESL teacher, and I can 00:46:34.660 |
train our guys to come and teach English where you need us." 00:46:37.920 |
And so that's what caused us to come into China. 00:46:41.900 |
During the five years, all I was thinking was, "Why? 00:46:52.300 |
See, it's hard to understand looking from here and looking forward, but when you see 00:46:58.100 |
behind you, you can clearly see the sovereignty of God. 00:47:08.380 |
The Holy Spirit is praying on our behalf on the things that we don't know, but what we 00:47:11.620 |
do know is that all things are working together for good, for those who love Him, who have 00:47:21.300 |
And that's why we can say with confidence in Matthew 10, 29, "Are not two sparrows sold 00:47:28.100 |
for a penny, and not one of them fall to the ground apart from your Father? 00:47:32.540 |
Yet even the hairs of your head are all numbered." 00:47:41.660 |
And again, I want to read one more passage in 1 Peter 5, 6-7. 00:47:45.500 |
"Humble yourselves, therefore, unto the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time He 00:47:50.500 |
may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you." 00:47:56.300 |
If our God is not sovereign, that wouldn't be a source of encouragement. 00:48:03.980 |
But the reason why it's an encouragement, the reason why it changes us, is because a 00:48:07.460 |
sovereign God who controls human history is in control. 00:48:27.340 |
This God is worth worshiping, and following, and trusting. 00:48:32.220 |
I don't know what's happening in your life right now, and I know that there's things 00:48:37.580 |
that may be happening in your life that you don't fully understand. 00:48:49.540 |
And I want to encourage you, as we remember the suffering of Christ and His incarnation, 00:48:55.460 |
as you think about His incarnation, think about why He came. 00:49:01.180 |
He didn't just come to save the world, or to give an example. 00:49:24.420 |
He saw the judgment that's waiting for mankind. 00:49:30.180 |
And so He stepped off of His throne, and He came after you. 00:49:37.820 |
So I pray that as we gear up to celebrate Christmas, that it would not simply be about 00:49:43.180 |
the theology of Christmas, of Emmanuel, and the meaning behind all of that. 00:49:50.100 |
But that you would remember that He first loved you. 00:49:55.020 |
That we would be able to confess with all honesty, "We love you too." 00:50:00.580 |
And I want to invite you to take some time to pray and reflect upon Romans 8.28. 00:50:19.380 |
And I don't know what kind of difficulties or suffering that you, or maybe somebody you 00:50:26.940 |
And maybe you've filled your mind with things that have nothing to do with God, and you've 00:50:32.300 |
left very little room for God's love to affect you. 00:50:39.900 |
Let's take this time to call you for the Lord. 00:50:45.460 |
Help me to move away from these distractions and hopefully take some time during this Christmas 00:50:51.260 |
season to really think upon the sacrifice that He made for us. 00:50:57.260 |
That our worship and love and confession may simply be a reasonable response. 00:51:01.820 |
So let's take some time to think and to pray as our worship team needs us."