The Guarantee of Hope.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] This is your first time here. My name is Steve. I’m one of the pastors here at [0:05] Village Church. I don’t know if you’ve ever sang that song before or if you [0:10] know, but tradition tells us that is a translated version of a hymn called [0:16] Fos-Hilaran, which dates, some people date it all the way back to the first [0:22] century. And the story goes that the believers in the first century would [0:28] sometimes at night under the cover of dark gather around the empty tomb of

[0:34] Jesus and they would sing of the light of Jesus under the cover of dark. And so [0:41] when you sing songs like that, when you sing these hymns, I want you to realize [0:45] that these aren’t just words that we’re singing, but rather this is a great [0:48] tradition of believers from thousands of years that have sang of the light of [0:54] Christ that comes into our life and it banishes darkness. And I don’t know where [1:00] you are this morning in your life, but just for a moment I want to pray with you

[1:06] as a people, as a people that are on a journey, some of you following Jesus, [1:10] some of you may be struggling to follow Jesus, some of you may not believe in [1:14] Jesus, but if you just give me a moment, I would love it if you would pray with me [1:18] and if I could just pray for you. Father, thank you so much for the joyous light of [1:25] Jesus Christ. Lord, I pray this morning that those that are struggling with hard [1:32] weeks, those that are struggling with just baggage in relationships that they’re

[1:38] under the weight of, those that are struggling with illness, those that are [1:43] struggling with disbelief. Lord, I pray this morning, Holy Spirit, just give your word to them. [1:53] Illuminate the Scriptures. Lord, that we would be found worshiping Jesus through [1:59] the truth of his gospel this morning and that you would help us even just for [2:04] this moment to just focus in on the great light of Jesus. It’s in his name I pray, [2:13] amen. If you have your Bibles, open them to Ephesians chapter 1. Last week we

[2:19] started a new series going through the book of Ephesians. We’re going to spend at [2:24] least 18 weeks, I use that term at least lightly, at least 18 weeks in the book of [2:31] Ephesians going verse by verse through this great text which is really the [2:35] blueprint that God gave a church in the New Testament of the foundation of the [2:40] gospel and what he’s going to do through the gospel. And this week is kind of the [2:45] second half of a sermon that I started last week and some of you thought it was

[2:50] already really long but it would have been even longer if I had done this whole [2:54] thing as one sermon. And today we’re going to be going from verses 11 through 14. [3:00] And we’re going to be talking about the subject of God’s sovereign will through [3:05] all of time, through before the foundations of the earth, through where [3:11] he promises to renew a new heaven and new earth that will be under submission to [3:17] his will, his glory, and his worship forever. And last week we began talking

[3:24] about how he has worked from before the earth was ever even spoken into existence [3:32] to work the gospel into history and to show that Jesus is supreme above all [3:39] rulers and above all powers and how he will be triumphant through the gospel. [3:44] And what I want to do today is I want to kind of go a little bit further into how [3:48] that works, how does God’s sovereignty work with man’s responsibility? [3:54] Because if you’re anything like me, you come to an understanding that I make real

[3:59] choices every day and you make real choices every day that matter. [4:04] You make decisions. You live a life that you feel somewhat in control of. [4:10] But when we go to texts like Ephesians chapter one and it begins to use phrases [4:15] like, he chose us in him before the foundations of the earth. [4:22] And that text, it literally means that before I ever chose him, he chose me. [4:29] And I’ve tried, I’ve really, I’ve been studying scriptures for over a decade,

[4:35] and I have tried to work a different thought into that. [4:39] But the sentence is pretty clear that he chose us in him before the foundations of [4:44] the earth. That’s what it means in the Greek. [4:46] That’s a good translation. [4:48] And then it uses terms like in love, he predestined us for adoption as sons in [4:56] Jesus Christ.

[4:58] And so we can look at these phrases and I want to be the kind of pastor and we [5:04] want to be the kind of church that doesn’t ignore this because it’s very [5:08] tempting to pass over this. [5:10] But what I want us to understand today is that these phrases are not something to [5:14] be passed over. [5:15] These phrases are not things to be ignored and they’re not even something

[5:19] that we should find time and just have a really good argument about it because [5:22] that’s kind of what we do sometimes in the church. [5:25] But rather, they are the basis of our joy and hope in the gospel of Jesus. [5:34] That without these truths, we can’t trust God. [5:41] That without these truths, our hope wouldn’t be secure, but rather in these [5:46] truths, we have a guarantee of hope that God will work all things to his glory.

[5:55] So if you’ll join me in Ephesians chapter 1, I just want to read through verses 11 [6:00] and 12.

[6:05] Paul writes, In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined [6:12] according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel [6:18] of his will. [6:19] That’s a very important all things.

[6:24] So that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his [6:31] glory. [6:33] And I want to stop there for I want to park there for just a moment and kind of [6:36] go through this passage. [6:38] There’s these two verses and understand the first thing that we have to see is [6:43] that the certainty of hope is Jesus.

[6:47] All right. [6:48] I want you to understand that just like last week, because remember last week, if [6:51] you weren’t here or you didn’t pay attention for whatever reason, whether it [6:56] be my hair or my clothes, if you go listen to the podcast, because it’s really [7:01] important to kind of get in everything. [7:03] You’ll be all right if you just stand alone this week, but you’ll be even

[7:05] better if you had last week and even better if you have next week. [7:09] That’s why you have to come every week, right? [7:12] That last week, we looked at verses three through 10 under really a microscope. [7:16] And we found that there are nine times in verses three through 10 where the [7:21] supremacy of Jesus in salvation is elevated above all things. [7:25] And that salvation is in Jesus.

[7:27] It’s through Jesus. [7:28] It’s from Jesus. [7:29] It’s to Jesus. [7:30] It’s all about Jesus. [7:33] And so sometimes when we come together as a church, we kind of avoid the offense [7:36] of Jesus.

[7:37] We’re really avoiding scripture altogether, and it makes our gathering kind [7:40] of meaningless. [7:41] So the one thing that we have to get every time we go to scripture is Jesus, [7:47] because all scripture from Genesis through Revelation is the gospel of Jesus. [7:53] It’s not just in a few of the books. [7:55] It’s in all of the books.

[7:57] He is on every page. [7:59] It either leads us to him or it leads us out of him into the life that we will [8:04] live. [8:05] All of scripture is about Jesus. [8:07] So in verse 11, when we see that very important beginning where it says in him,

[8:15] that is the basis out of which the entire passage is going to flow out of. [8:22] All right. [8:22] And so he says, in him, we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined. [8:29] All right. [8:30] And that’s where we get, oh, he’s one of those guys that believes in predestination. [8:35] Well, not because I really want to, but because it’s there.

[8:39] All right. [8:39] I think that’s where we kind of have to begin is it’s not do you believe in [8:44] predestination? [8:45] The question is, do you believe in scripture? [8:48] All right. [8:49] And I’m not trying to be facetious through that.

[8:51] I’m trying to be very blunt and honest with you because it’s in there. [8:54] It’s in Ephesians one. [8:55] It’s in Romans eight. [8:57] It’s there. [8:58] The phrase there, excuse me, the word predestined is actually originally in the [9:02] Greek.

[9:03] It’s this term pro orzo, which literally means to make a decision [9:08] beforehand or as we would say it in our language, to predetermine. [9:14] All right. [9:15] Now that was it was a nautical term in that orzo is the term we get horizon from. [9:20] And in that day, when they would set out by boat, they would look at the horizon above them and [9:25] they would set their path on a predetermined location on the horizon and they would head

[9:31] towards that. [9:32] So this term literally means to set a horizon around and make sure the destination. [9:39] So when we talk about predestination, that’s what we’re saying. [9:42] Predestination is the guarantee of God’s will. [9:47] God has set a destination to where he is moving history and predestination is his action before [9:54] the creation of the world, before he set the foundations of the earth, excuse me, earth.

[9:59] Earth, there’s an H there to move history towards that point and to get there. [10:06] We see him doing this through the Old Testament and acting the world towards Jesus Christ, [10:12] that when we get to the book of Matthew, when we read that genealogy and Matthew chapter one, [10:16] like we talked about last week, that it’s not by accident that he’s giving us this section of [10:21] scripture that seems kind of boring where we’re just looking at a bunch of birth certificates, [10:24] but rather it’s God saying this has been my plan for all time and this is how we got to Jesus

[10:30] through my hand. [10:32] God is working history towards a destination of his choosing towards his will.

[10:42] When I begin to think sometimes about predestination, and I want you to know that [10:47] what I talk about today I don’t take very lightly because it’s something that I struggled with for [10:51] a very long time. Because here’s the question and here’s the destination that many of us come to [10:57] and why we don’t like this subject and we don’t like to talk about it and sometimes we just kind [11:02] of try to explain it away through the process of putting kind of my thoughts in scripture rather [11:08] than just letting scripture speak for itself. It’s because it sometimes can lead us to a point where

[11:14] if predestination is true and God really before the foundations of the earth said this is where [11:20] history is going no matter what, this is how I’m going to get there, then my life is meaningless. [11:28] And my choices are meaningless. And I’m a pawn or better yet a robot in God’s actions of moving [11:38] history so what I do is meaningless. So what difference does it make? Let’s pack all this [11:46] stuff up. Let’s go watch NFL today even though the season’s over. Let’s go watch college game day. [11:52] Let’s go do something else because God’s getting there with or without me so what’s the point?

[11:57] And I think that’s a real struggle that we have in salvation to begin with. We want to know, oh okay [12:04] so my destination is certain if I trust in Jesus so I’m just going to trust in him and have fun.

[12:13] You can spend your time doing hard things like studying scripture, planning churches, [12:19] taking the gospel to people, going to the hard places, doing the hard things. [12:24] Why do we do hard things? Why do we go to hard places if it’s all determined?

[12:34] And where I came to was a great deal of comfort from the Old Testament. And there’s a lot of doom [12:40] and gloom in the Old Testament so that’s not always the easiest thing in the world to do. [12:44] I mean if you read some of it Saul’s got nothing on the Old Testament. If we go to the book of [12:49] Genesis I want to give you one of the texts that not only in this subject but rather in my life [12:56] one of the verses that I like to call is kind of an anchor verse for me. It keeps me grounded and [13:02] it helps me be hopeful in the face of very difficult circumstances that all of us have.

[13:07] In Genesis 50-20 Joseph is speaking and he’s speaking to one of his brothers and I’ll read [13:11] the text and then I’ll explain it. He says, as for you, you meant evil against me but God meant it [13:17] to bring it about that many people should be kept alive as they are today. And you know that’s that [13:25] phrase, it’s almost like a coffee cup verse, what you meant for evil, God meant for good, [13:29] and we get great comfort and we should. But here’s the story as to why Joseph shouldn’t [13:33] have felt that way. All right, in the book of Genesis in the last 10 chapters we have a story

[13:40] of this young man named Joseph who is his father’s favorite child and his father Jacob loved him so [13:47] much and it was his favorite son and he had a lot of sons but he picked Joseph as this is the one, [13:52] this is my favorite. And he gives him this coat of many colors and Joseph wasn’t always really [13:57] good with handling him being the favorite so he would flaunt it in front of his brothers and he [14:02] probably sang stupid songs like I’m the favorite, I’m the favorite, ha ha ha. You do chores, I don’t [14:06] have to. Something like that. That’s what I imagine my sister doing if she was the favorite

[14:11] but she’s not, I am. I don’t care who you are, every child wants that status. [14:17] And I don’t think I have it. But I really think she might be. My son’s my favorite because he’s [14:23] the only one. He’s my favorite son that I’ve ever had. He’s also the only one. My dad tells me that [14:30] a lot and I’m 31 and I’m his only son so after a while I realized, wait a second, that’s not that [14:36] much of a compliment. I’m also his least favorite son probably. So Joseph is his favorite son.

[14:44] And let’s get back to the Bible here I guess, maybe we should do that. [14:49] I’m working out my issues with all of you. It’s funny, my family goes here and they’re just like, [14:53] stop it, stop it. That’s not what my dad sounds like by the way.

[15:01] Weird. I’m having lunch with him later, that should be fun.

[15:07] Joseph is his father’s favorite child and his other brothers begin to resent him greatly for that. [15:15] And so his brothers hatch this plan and this is what they do. Don’t do what they did to your [15:20] siblings, kids. They sold him into slavery, took that coat that his father gave him, they mangled [15:27] it, they dipped it in animal’s blood, gave it to their father and faked Joseph’s death. So Joseph [15:33] spends a number of years in slavery. He’s then in Egypt, way outside of his homeland, [15:40] he’s accused of a crime he didn’t commit, spends more than a decade in prison for a crime he doesn’t

[15:49] commit. Then through a series of miracles that God works, he’s released out of prison, [15:58] he’s elevated to the position of second in command of all of Egypt. Then God prepares Joseph [16:05] through a series of visions to save Egypt from a great famine that’s going to come, [16:11] and what’s Egypt becomes the world power of that time because they’re the only people with food. [16:16] Through that, he’s able to save his entire family from the famine, bring his father and all of his [16:24] brothers to Egypt, saving them. But there comes a period years later where his father Jacob dies,

[16:32] and as soon as his father Jacob dies, his brothers begin to become very afraid because [16:38] they’re under the impression that the only reason Joseph has not enacted revenge on them [16:43] is because of the father. So they go to Joseph and this is what they just look at him and they say, [16:51] Dad’s dead. And they knew Joseph, second in command of the most powerful nation in the world, [16:58] they knew he could have. They said, Joseph, are you going to kill us? Are you going to exact [17:05] revenge? And in verse 20 of chapter 50, what we’re reading here is Joseph’s response to that question.

[17:14] I think all of us would have been understanding [17:17] that God has suffered. [17:20] If Joseph had chosen otherwise. But Joseph had an understanding that God has suffered.

[17:32] And he’s telling his brothers right here, what you did mattered. It was wrong. You sinned greatly.

[17:48] And God is more powerful than your sin. God has triumphed over your sin. He didn’t work his glory [18:00] in spite of your sin, but he’s so powerful that through the wrong choices that you made, [18:08] he was able behind the scenes to take that which was sinful and work the salvation of not my [18:17] family. Because if you continue through the Old Testament, what you find is that out of the line [18:24] of Joseph and his brothers come the nation of Israel. Out of Israel comes Moses. Moses leads [18:31] the nation of Israel after 400 years of oppression in Egypt, in slavery through another series of

[18:38] events. God leads them to the promised land, showing his power over Pharaoh through the plagues. [18:45] Then out of Israel comes all of the prophets. Then out of Israel comes King David. Then out [18:51] of King David comes Solomon. Then out of Solomon comes all of his children. Then out of his [18:56] children comes he who was promised through the Old Testament to be of the lineage of David, Jesus Christ.

[19:08] What you meant for evil, God meant for good.

[19:17] God works through everything to bring about his glory.

[19:25] Another instance is in Acts chapter 4.

[19:29] Acts chapter 4 we read, For truly in this city. Now the disciples are preaching the gospel. [19:36] It says, For truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, [19:43] whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of [19:50] Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. The greatest [19:59] sin of all time is the murder of Jesus Christ.

[20:07] The disciples stand there preaching it and they’re saying that it was Herod’s sin, it was Pontius [20:12] Pilate’s sin, it was all of the Gentiles’ sin, it was all of Israel’s sin. They’re leaving no one [20:17] without guilt. No one. Saying there’s no one person you can just lay the blame on. It’s the [20:23] whole world’s fault. He says God was more powerful and he used it and planned it for his glory, [20:36] for the gospel to take place, for the redemption of all who would believe. [20:42] Now, remember, through this we have to understand that Jesus makes the ends of God’s work absolute.

[20:54] In other words, when you see this type of passage, when you see this, you need to really go beneath [21:00] the scriptures and you need to go to those stories, you need to go to those places where God is saying [21:04] the hard things about the hard things that he’s done, about the hard places that he’s gone to, [21:09] and understand that none of it happened outside of his control. Was it necessarily his will?

[21:22] Yes and no.

[21:26] So let’s get to that. It’s like, wait a second, you’re saying that, wait a second, [21:33] to bring about good? I’m saying yes, he does.

[21:41] Yes, he does. That’s what scripture’s revealed. That’s what Genesis 50-20 was saying. That’s [21:46] what Acts chapter 4 reveals. I don’t know of anyone that would say that it was really [21:52] good thing to do to kill Jesus, but I’m sure glad they did. You say why? Because if Jesus had not [22:01] died, I would not be redeemed. If Jesus had not sacrificed himself for me, I could not be saved. [22:08] The just had to die for the unjust. He needed to exchange his righteousness for my sin, for me to [22:19] have any hope. But Jesus is the guarantee of all that God has done for my benefit.

[22:35] So what we have to understand in this is since Jesus makes the ends of God’s work absolute, [22:42] right, he makes it certain. He makes it guaranteed. And I think I’m with a crowd that would say that, [22:48] we have this understanding, if we read the book of Revelation, God is working history to that [22:54] certain point. And he has revealed this is what it’s going to look like. In Revelation chapter 7, [22:57] he says that there will be people gathered around the throne of God from all nations, [23:01] all tribes, all tongues. In Revelation chapters 20 through 22, we have this realization that all

[23:07] people will go before God and before Jesus, excuse me, to be judged. And then God is going to make [23:13] a new heavens and a new earth. And then it says in Revelation chapter 22 verse 4, [23:19] that we will see his face. That Jesus is going to turn Exodus chapter 33, where Moses could not [23:27] see the glory of God to Revelation chapter 22, where I will see the glory of God face to face. [23:32] That Jesus is the basis through which that is going to happen and it is a guarantee. [23:38] So what we have to come to is this realization that God did not just make it certain at that

[23:46] point, but rather God, who has created all, made it certain before the foundations of the earth [23:53] that that is what is going to happen. And everything that happens in history, God is [23:57] working through to make his will happen. So what that leads us to this understanding of [24:03] is that those who hope in Jesus are the same

[24:09] in giving God glory as those who trust him. Hope and trust are not two different things. They are [24:20] the same. That we can have false hope and we can have false trust. But if we are trusting in Jesus, [24:27] what we are trusting is, is that he will come through with what he has promised us [24:33] and that we can have hope. But what I am saying is that if before the foundations of the earth, [24:40] God did not make this plan and did not make it certain, how could we trust him?

[24:52] If sin at one time

[24:59] messed God’s plan up, how can we trust that it will not do it again?

[25:10] But the predestination of God in Scripture proves to us [25:16] is that sin has never messed up God’s plan.

[25:26] It was an idea that those in rebellion against God hatched to mess up God’s plan.

[25:34] And God simply looks at it and said,

[25:38] you can’t mess up my plan. I’ve planned for your plan and my plan trumps your plan, [25:44] so your plan is actually working according to my plan. Read the story of Jonah. That’s what [25:49] happened. Jonah’s like, I’m out of here. God’s like, well, you’re just running further into my will. [25:53] I’ve got a fish. You can try to trip God up, but it’s not going to happen. The gospel is the only [26:04] guarantee worthy of trust. So where does your actions factor into God’s sovereign will? [26:16] So I wanted to build a basis and now we’re going to get into life. So does your life matter?

[26:22] And I say your life matters as much as God’s sovereignty. Your choices matter as much as [26:29] sovereignty because you are the agent through which God is working his will. Look in verse 13.

[26:39] In him, there’s Jesus again. In him, you also, when you heard the word of truth, [26:47] the gospel of your salvation and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, [26:53] who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his [26:58] glory. Because here’s how most of us want it. We want everything to be about us and we want to be [27:04] in absolute control of our lives. And then we hear about the gospel and we choose Jesus Christ. And [27:09] then we want it to be all about God keeping us saved. Ever played that game with eternal security?

[27:15] I chose it, but now he’s choosing it. Now he did all the choosing all along.

[27:21] But your choice does factor because he says you believed in him. So how does that work? [27:27] So, God has sealed us in hope through his Spirit whom we walk in.

[27:37] We often want to look at the sealing of the Holy Spirit in this text as this pie in the sky reality [27:43] that is something that’s taking place outside of our lives. Okay, I’m sealed with the Holy Spirit, [27:48] but I kind of get to do whatever I want. And in this realm of me getting to do whatever I want, [27:54] me going my own way, God’s promised that I’m sealed no matter what. That’s not how the New [27:59] Testament works out the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. The way the Holy Spirit works in [28:03] your life through this sealing is that you are walking in the Holy Spirit in his power through

[28:10] his might. You understand scripture through the illumination of the Holy Spirit. You’re walking [28:15] and making choices for the glory of God through the power of the Holy Spirit. And all the time, [28:20] God is getting all the glory because it’s only through his power in his gospel that you can trust [28:26] in him and that you can obey him. Apart from him, all of your good deeds are as filthy rags. In him, [28:35] all of your good deeds are as if Jesus was doing those good deeds because the righteousness that [28:41] you have is not your own. Rather, the righteousness that you have is the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

[28:49] So, what about your actions? What about your choices? The thing that we have to understand [28:54] about God’s sovereignty is that our actions and our choices matter, but all actions and all choices [29:00] will give him glory. Does not Ephesians chapter 1 verse 13, excuse me, verse 12, excuse me, verse 11. [29:08] I do that a lot. Stupid numbers.

[29:14] It says, in him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose [29:18] of him who works what? How many things does he work? Just the good things? No, all things. [29:28] All things. All things. All things. Here’s what I mean by that.

[29:37] Those who do not trust in Jesus,

[29:43] are going to work to the glory of God because they will reveal the justice of God over sin.

[29:52] They will feel the wrath of God for an eternity in hell.

[29:58] That will work to the glory of God because it will reveal his justice. It will reveal his anger [30:04] over sin forever. Those who trust in Jesus, those who get the indwelling Holy Spirit that [30:13] happens at salvation, because when we get saved what happens is that God puts his Holy Spirit onto [30:18] us and then we walk in our lives under that power, making choices that bring God glory because our [30:24] choices now are not guided by our passions and our rebellion against God for our glory, but rather [30:30] they are driven by God for his glory. We don’t just get to see God’s glory over our choices,

[30:38] we get to see God’s glory in our choices, which brings us to great joy about our choices. [30:47] On the one hand, you have people who are seeing God’s glory in their choices to great pain,

[30:56] but those who follow Jesus get to see his glory in their choices through great joy. [31:02] Because if you’ve been transformed by God through the power of his Spirit, [31:06] you get to understand his will. You get to see that which brings him delight. [31:13] You get to see that which he loves, which is the gospel of Jesus, and you are then able through [31:20] his power in your life to look at the scriptures and actually see the mission of Jesus to seek and [31:27] to save that which was lost, and you then can have joy right now. Back in verse 11 it says,

[31:35] we have obtained an inheritance, does it not? See, I don’t know about you, but I haven’t experienced [31:41] the glory of heaven because I’ve never been there, but Paul writes about it as if he’s already got [31:47] the inheritance because he knows the joy of obeying Jesus, and you can know it too.

[31:54] Another anchor text for me in understanding how this works is Romans 8.28. Maybe, [31:59] have you ever had a hard time when somebody quoted Romans 8.28 to you and you wanted to [32:02] punch them in the face? Been there, been there, but it is an anchor verse. It is where our hope [32:09] clings to. Romans 8.28-29, he writes, and we know. How do we know? Because of Jesus. [32:20] Because Jesus makes it clear that there was no accident, but rather God was working history [32:24] towards them and he’s working it out of them. And we know that for those who love God, all things,

[32:29] how many things? All things work together for good, for those who are called according to what [32:41] purpose? His purpose, remember, everything’s going to work out according to the purpose of his will.

[32:49] For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son [32:57] in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined, [33:07] he also called. Those whom he called, he also justified. Those whom he justified, he also [33:13] glorified. How does that all work? The first thing that happens is God makes us a promise. [33:20] And that’s what we have in verses 11 and 12. And the next part we see is how God fulfills that [33:26] promise, which is what we have in verses 13 and 14. Here God promises, he says, look, for those

[33:31] whom I have called to myself, everything will work to good. You will experience my love, you have it. [33:39] If you love me, if you truly love me, which we can only do through Jesus. But then he lays out how [33:48] that happens. He says, if I have called you to myself, if you get to experience my glory, [33:57] it’s going to happen through you being conformed to the image of my Son. And if you are being [34:04] conformed to the image of my Son, understand that it is because I am doing a great work in you. [34:10] It is not because you are doing a great work, because if you were doing a great work,

[34:16] wouldn’t you receive all of the glory? Wouldn’t you deserve it?

[34:23] But God makes it known through Paul that he is doing all of the work in you for his glory. [34:29] And then he sets out the how. The how always begins with him. It never begins with you. [34:37] Read through scripture. Anything that has to do with God receiving glory will always begin with [34:41] him. He says, it is because I predestined, I predetermined, I set history on a course and said, [34:49] this is where it’s going. And he says, through that predestination, I called.

[35:01] Called. Look back in Ephesians.

[35:07] Verse 13, it says, in him you also, when you heard the word of truth, you believed [35:15] the gospel of your salvation. Do you see that?

[35:22] When we begin to look at the sovereignty of God and use it as an excuse for us to enter into sin, [35:29] or as an excuse for us to not do anything and not care about the work of God, we are being [35:37] disobedient to what God has revealed will give him glory, and we should get great fear out of [35:43] something like that. Not caring is not a mark of salvation. Apathy is not a mark of you trusting [35:52] in God’s sovereignty. Apathy is a mark of your rebellion against the revealed sovereign will of [35:59] God. And when he says, you heard, you were called, how does that happen? Speaking.

[36:13] Actions. Choices. You wake up in the morning and say, I will live my life for the gospel. I will [36:20] serve people. I will love people so that they can hear the gospel of Jesus Christ through my life. [36:27] And then God in heaven says, yes, that is what gives me glory. Yes, that is how I’m working all [36:33] things to my will. Yes, I am working through you. I’m working in your choices. I’m working through [36:39] your choices for my glory. Your choices matter because it is through your choices that God will [36:45] receive glory or you will receive grief.

[36:58] Redemption then frees us to take risks for God’s glory. You say, what do you mean?

[37:12] The verse 14 talks about the promised Holy Spirit. He says, who is the guarantee [37:21] of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory?

[37:30] So the Holy Spirit is this guarantee of hope that we have. The Holy Spirit is our connection to [37:35] communion with God the Father and our relationship with him in which we have been reconciled through [37:39] Jesus Christ. He’s the guarantee. But then look at it says until we acquire possession of it, [37:46] there’s a future tense there. We do not have it all yet, but we will acquire possession of it. [37:54] But it is not writing in such a way that it is not something that you are going after. What he’s [38:00] writing in is this is an action oriented passage where he says you are actually living your life

[38:05] which you are going after his glory. You’re reaching for his glory. You’re seeking his [38:12] glory. It’s the same way at the end of Romans 8 30 where he says those whom he justified, [38:18] he also glorified. Paul is saying that the redemption in God through Jesus that we will [38:26] experience ultimately where we are sinless and we get red hot for God’s worship for an eternity. [38:32] What he’s saying is I because he hadn’t been glorified yet, but he’s saying it’s so certain [38:38] that he’s going to write about it in the past tense as if it’s already happened.

[38:45] That type of a thirst for the glory of God does not happen if you are not chasing after it with [38:54] your life. People take risks every single day. People chase after things every single day.

[39:05] When I’m saying it frees you to take risks for the glory of God, [39:09] what I mean is it frees you from having to see life under the same lens as everyone else. [39:20] Because we have a way of defining success in this world that’s wrong.

[39:27] There’s a way of defining success in this thing we call the American dream that’s absolutely [39:31] bankrupt. We define it by money. We define it by this false view of success that is this [39:41] prestige and this fame and these material possessions that we chase after with all that we [39:47] have. And the gospel frees me to risk all of those things because I know that those things [39:55] aren’t certain. Those things can and will fail me. Those things will rust.

[40:06] My sweet ride, that 01 GMC Sonoma rolling on factory 14s. It’s a sweet ride. It’s going to [40:15] rust. Already is. You’re like it’s because it’s 12 years old. Well, yeah, but it’s rusting.

[40:24] It’s not going to be here in 100 years.

[40:29] The gospel though of God through Jesus. The gospel is sure. [40:39] How crazy do you have to be to see something that is certain, something that isn’t written [40:45] in the stars, something that’s written by God before the foundations of the earth. [40:49] And he’s saying that’s where it’s going. When you die, you’re going to come to me [40:53] and I’m going to I’m going to judge. And only that which is done for Jesus will matter. [40:59] And only that would show trust in Jesus will matter. How crazy do I have to be to see that

[41:06] and then say, I’m going to risk it all for other stuff.

[41:12] How crazy are we?

[41:17] How wasteful. How corrupt.

[41:26] The God in his sovereign plan,

[41:33] he did not condemn me for my sin that offends him so greatly.

[41:43] Rather, he said, I’m going to use that sin. He started talking about it in Genesis 315. [41:51] He said, that sin that offends me, I’m going to turn it on its head and I’m going to glorify [41:57] myself through it. But then he says the most loving thing anyone has ever said. [42:03] He says, and when I do it, I’m going to redeem you through it.

[42:12] Our only sane response [42:18] is joyful thanksgiving.

[42:24] In living in a realization of the eternal love and joy of God and being conformed to the image [42:37] of his Son, Jesus Christ. God did not just give us salvation through him, which he did. [42:45] It’s grace which is sufficient, but he didn’t just do that. He also in his grace gave us Jesus [42:52] to be an example of glory.

[43:02] God’s sovereignty is a great cry of God in eternity past that says, don’t waste your life.

[43:18] And so many of us are buying lies.

[43:23] Culture will tell us you’re crazy if you trust his word.

[43:29] Sin will try to convince you you’re nuts if you don’t live by this love. Life doesn’t matter.

[43:39] It’s yours. Love you. You do you.

[43:46] That’s how we got in this mess in the first place. Stop it.

[43:53] God loves you. [43:56] And he’s calling you to himself through the finished work of Jesus Christ. The band will come up. We’re done.

[44:08] He’s saying come.

[44:12] Because Jesus has done everything that needs to happen for you to know God and you to be [44:19] in an eternal relationship with him. So I want to make two pleas to you this morning and then we’ll be done.

[44:27] The first one is that Jesus loves you and he’s done everything for salvation. Trust him. [44:34] If you’re in here and you haven’t or you’re in here and you’re looking at your life and you’re saying [44:39] my life doesn’t look like one that trusts God. My life doesn’t look like one where I love Jesus. [44:44] Do it today. Love him today. Trust him today. Turn from sin that does not bring him glory and live [44:54] the life of grace through Jesus Christ that does. Because he’s going to get it anyway. [45:02] You might as well enjoy it, right? His glory doesn’t have to be to your detriment. His glory

[45:08] can be to your salvation. That’s what Jesus says.

[45:15] Secondly, those of you that are in here who do trust Jesus.

[45:21] I want to ask you to stop wasting your life.

[45:27] You have been sealed with the Holy Spirit that if you are not living for the gospel [45:33] should be convicting you of wasting your life right now. Because you’re walking in him. [45:40] He’s guiding you. Are you following his guidance or are you living in spite of it?

[45:48] All of life is about trusting Jesus. To your salvation and then through your salvation. [46:00] We live a life in which we can bring God glory right now.

[46:08] And that’s what I want to do. Let’s do it as a church.