March 14, 2021 - If God is Truly Sovereign do my choices matter?

Passing the offering plate but giving continues to be an important part of Howard Disciples of Christ. And so I encourage you to if you're going to give her a red Hills. There's a box in the back on your way out. You can drop some stuff in there. If God so leads if you're already Faithfully giving to this ministry or any other to build the kingdom. It's just a quick reminder of why on an external perspective, you know that the treasures that God gives us bless the world and and it's in giving it we're blessed ourselves. So, let me just pray over our gifts. Father thank you so much for blessing us with money and stuff. We know that it all comes from you God continue to teach us how to give with grateful hearts and Lord, let our lives including our bank accounts and everything else be fully surrendered to you. We ask this in your son's name and then

We're going to have a time of or we have a time schedule this special prayer, but it's actually going to be a very very short prayer because what I'm going to ask you to do is spend some time frame this week and reading your Bible. And so I got a little story to tell you true story. I'm not going to go into too much detail and protect the innocent but to show you may have heard on the news that several weeks ago. There was a man who was out actually 2 minute. We're out looking for antler sheds up in the Parowan area and one of them passed away and so they called they didn't know where where they found his ATV running. They called The Iron County sheriff and they they put together their search-and-rescue team. They were looking for this man who they knew was missing and didn't make it very detailed and long story fairly short friend of mine a Christian brother was praying about this and just had this burden. He's a personal friend of the the sheriff. Hey, I just fixed burden about it. And so he had this thought come to mind and he said God that's weird. I'm not sharing that with anybody. But if you want me to I will and so he continue to pray about it. He just had this heaviness this burden. If you've experienced this, you know what I'm talking about, but just this feeling like this is very important. And so he calls at the sheriff and says, hey don't think I'm a freak. I don't do this on a regular basis, but I really think God is telling you to go here and do this to find this guy. The sheriff said you know what we were just thinking about going back to that spot that you just told us about and so they did they did exactly what he said and they found a guy.

That's the movement of the hand of God in and when my buddy share this with me, I was like, I wonder why he did this was he trying to encourage the sheriff was you trying to encourage my buddy don't know what this is all about. And then a couple weeks later same guy called me up and said hey, you know what? I really shouldn't think that God is sharing with me that we did Christian Church here in the Cedar City area need to just read through the book of Ephesians. It's a relatively short books in the New Testament is like six chapters, you can read it and you know, 20 minutes easily. And so he said I think God wants that to be shared with his people. So there you go again, and I'm wondering if God did this miraculous thing with the search and rescue so that I would listen when my buddy said. Hey, I think this is supposed to be shared a my talents to you is the people of God is to take some time this week if you do it everyday great, but take some time this week and read through the book of Ephesians. And if you do this on Monday or Tuesday, I think after you read through it, you might feel very encouraged by God to join us for prayer here on Tuesday evening. But but here's what I want to do is I want you to read through the book of Ephesians and find out if this was just some random synapses firing in my buddies brain or if God is speaking to us. I did this with the church up at Panguitch where I served at as well and in that the week that I share the same thing I got did some just amazing things through the lives of the people up there through the book of Ephesians show to read Ephesians this week. I'm going to pray about this assuming that I'm going to read some Verses from Psalm 36 as we pray. She'll pray with me with you.

But I got your word says that your steadfast love extends to the heavens in your faithfulness to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mountains of God of your judgments are like the great deep man and Beast you say velour. How precious is your steadfast love o God the children of mankind take refuge in The Shadow of Your Wings, they Feast on the abundance of your house and you give them drink from the river of your Delights for with you is the Fountain of Life in your light. Do we see light got as we consider your word as we consider this task of reading through the book of Ephesians. We know that these are just words, but we know that you speak through those words. We know that the Bible is your word and its Word of Life and so God, I'd ask that you would give us motivation and power over our flesh to actually sit down and read what you read. I ask your Holy Spirit to come and speak to us as we read it and I asked you that to give us an encouragement and give us boldness to share the encouragement. He bring That we might be able to grow together in unity as a church in bringing Jesus to our area. I ask this in his mighty name. Amen. All right, and I wasn't even a sermon starting yet. If you don't know me I do serve here as one of the pastors at Red Hills, but I'm on temporary assignment up to the Panguitch the church up there at least for a few more months. So I don't get to see everybody as often as I'd like to but that we're doing the same thing up there going through the book of Romans and it's been been really an awesome thing. I'm happy to have the opportunity to share with you three chapters from The Book of Romans chapters 9 through 11 which is which is a bunch to share and show to kind of get us started. I want to tell you a little story. So there's a story about a scientist in a farmer who were sitting in the back waiting for church to start and the scientist says to the farmer. What do you think is the most amazing invention, you know, the sign that says I'm going back and forth between a space shuttle with a Saison most complex thing ever made and the personal computer and it because the computers it's amazing. It's just a bunch of like electricity and an integrated circuits and all this kind of stuff and yet it can do almost as much as the human mind and into the Farmer Listen to that. Okay, and it's time to schedule. So what about it? What do you think is the most amazing invention ever? And farmer without pause says it's in the thermos. And a scientist says the thermos the farmer say sure in the morning. It keeps my coffee hot and cold what to do. the amazing

Miss is a farmer Thurman. We're going to cover a hugely difficult topic a hugely complex topic and I can't tell you how everything works in it. But God gives us some indications here in these three chapters of Romans. That's how he makes it work. And so as we go through this I'm just going to tell you that you will probably have some unanswered questions because this is such a big topic some of you are most likely I'm going to push you off of your happy place a little bit cuz you're probably going to confront some things that you think are not true. And if I say something that you think is not true and it doesn't come from the Bible then invite you to call me on it. If I say something that does come in the Bible and let's talk about it tomorrow or just take out of his word and and and let your thinking lineup with his either way as we go through this very very difficult topic. I invite you to connect with me my numbers in the bulletin there and I'll be happy to meet with you or can I call you on the phone this week? If we need to follow up on this idea that if God is in control of everything do our choices really matter before we get into that. Let me pray and then and we'll get on. father God What an amazing thing it is to think that you're in charge of everything and yet God, you know how we struggle with our own choices with understanding how our choices fit into your perfect plan. I got what you eliminate this for it today. Will you help us to understand or make us understand? What you put in your work here in these three chapters what Paul has written down for us. Will your Holy Spirit move in as today? And will you use my words for your glory? I ask this in Jesus name? Amen?

So last week Anthony kind of finished up with with the idea in chapter 8 that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus when an amazing message and it at the end of that chapter, it talks about the fact that nothing can separate us from the love of God that is found in Christ. Jesus. Absolutely incredible stuff for us to hear that but if you're in the context of when Paul was right in this there's a big question that comes up and here's the question. If you're familiar with how the Bible structure kind of Biblical history. You'll know that there's people that follow God the Jews the Israelites who had been giving all these promises and that's where Steph and that's what that's what Paul talks about the beginning of chapter 9 of Romans. He says, you know, they've been given all these things from God And yet at the time that Paul is writing this letter. The Jews are largely at the hose to Jesus Christ. So you can imagine it this way if this side of the room with non-jews what with the Bible called Gentiles in those cases and this side of the room was used this side of the room had this incredible history. They've got profits and promises and Covenants and these are the people that are supposed to be God's chosen people and yet at the time that Paul is writing this this side of the room is mostly the beneficiaries of what Jesus Christ has brought. In fact some of the people on this side of the room have left and gone to this side of the room. And so so what we have is this question if God has promised these people over here these amazing things and yet right now we see that God is doing amazing things through this side of the room what's going on is got a liar when he said all these things about the Jewish people was he wrong a super super important questions and that's what Paul takes us through and so that we don't get stuck just in Biblical history, but we think about how this applies to our own lives as well is it's a question that applies across the board say, how do God's promises. How does his perfect all-powerful hand work in a way that I can still have choices and and participate in what he's doing and it's a very very difficult question. It's it's kind of a hard thing to answer but but all points points as to that in these So so that we don't get lost in the Theology of this. I want to just kind of throw out a couple examples of of where this question comes to play as some of you may be familiar with a guy named Joshua Harris famous Christian Pastor author wrote books that are super famous as a speaker and seven years ago actually in 2019 is when he finally said, hey, I don't believe in Jesus but for decades prior to that he was a major influence in the church. Now you may have heard about similar things with Rhett and Link worse than some YouTubers the songwriter Marty Sampson people who lived out faith for years and years and years and then came to a point where they said. I'm out Jesus ain't it? And you have to ask a question when they do that what's going on here where these people never saved? Did they fall away where they predestined with a predetermined by God to reject Jesus. And if that's true, if any of that true can that happen to me? Can I just fall away? Can I can I just am I predestined to reject Jesus even think about it this way too. Here's another example, if you have neighbors that have a different face and you're asking the question, well, do I even need to share about Jesus with them? Cuz if God is in charge of everything and he wants them to come into his kingdom he's going to do that. Anyways, whether I do it or not. And if I do think I'm supposed to do that. Do I even have a choice or can I get up this morning and say no, I want to watch Netflix all day. Hey, how does this stuff all play together is very very practical in in once we start considering it. And so I'm going to read excerpt from chapter 9 to 11 to add to answer this question. And I'm going to I'm going to have it on the screen like we normally do and I did that intentionally partly cuz I'm jumping around and I'd like you to actually see all the stuff that's in between this in the Bible. So if you have questions, you can go back and read it if you got your Bible full it out if your if your Bible and you do the phone pull it out and then if I get boring you can pretend like you're reading the Bible in you know, Surf and that sort of thing either Bibles in the in the back of the chairs in front of you. I'm sure I invite you to join me as we go through a starting at Romans chapter 9 looking at versus 1423.

At Paul's asking this question that if God has brought believing Gentiles ahead of the law following Jews has he broken his promises to the Jews and so picking up in chapter 9 at verse 14. He says what shall we say then? Is there Injustice on God's part by no means free system Moses. I will have mercy on whom I have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. So then it depends not on human will exertion put on God who has Mercy for the scripture says that Pharaoh for this very purpose. I've raised you up that I might show my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the Earth. So then he has Mercy on whom ever he Wills any Harden's whomever he Wills. You'll say to me then. Why does he still find fault for who can resist his will but who are you? Oh man to answer back to God will what is molded say to it? Smolder? Why have you made me like this and the Potter? No right over the clay to make out of the the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use. What if God Desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power has endured with much patience vessels of Wrath prepared for destruction in order to make known The Riches of his glory for vessels of Mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for Glory. This is a tough concept. Okay, the big idea is that God ordains and is in control of everything and literally that some people have been ordained to be vessels of Wrath to be to be set up for Destruction and other people have been ordained to be vessels of Mercy to show God glory and this is not hard concept that God has already said hey, you know what? There's some who are not going to make it into heaven essentially and so we have to wrestle with that and as we wrestle with that Paul goes from this declaration about how this all works at CNN. This is how this applies to the Jewish people and why they're not following Jesus right now, but he brings it back to the cydaea that the reason this is happening. This way is because of unbelief. They're going to skip down to chapter 10. And we're looking verses 9 through 13.

Dua after saying God is in control of everything and he does whatever he wants to the people that he wants to do it to call says this starting in verse 9. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved for with the heart One Believes and is Justified in with a mouth one confesses that is safe for the scripture says everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek for the same. Lord is Lord of all bestowing his riches on all who call on him for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved supposed to take charge of everything. He Harden's whoever he wants and if you believe in Jesus, You will not be hard you will be saved. So there's some tension there between these two ideas the idea that God ordained and everything and yet salvation comes through a choice and then Paul goes from that to say. Hey this salvation I'm talking about is not simply like a magic wand or something like that or a momentary event. He says, you know, the Jews have been attached to God and for this time. They've been broken off. But are going to be brought back but he says you who are not Jewish have been grafted any brought in to connect with God and there's a warning in this look at chapter 11 with me as we looking verses 17 to 22.

If some of the branches were broken off and they'd be talking about the Jewish people who have rejected Jesus and you although a wild Olive shoot were grafted in among the others and now Sharon the nursing root of the Olive Tree do not be arrogant or the branches. If you are remember it is not you who support the route for the route that supports you then you will say branches were broken off so that I might be drafted in that is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith, so don't become proud but fear for if God did not spare the natural branches neither, will he spare, you know, then the kindness and the severity of God severity for those who have fallen but God's kindness to you provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you two will be cut off. Show Paul connects what he's been saying in chapter 10 to this this idea in chapter 11 that this confessing with your heart or compassion with your mouth and believe in your heart is not a momentary thing. It is a enduring persistent belief K. Our choice are our belief must be persistent for us to remain grafted into the root. Who is God hears what I want us to talk through we're going to answer these or address these three questions as we answer the top question there. If God is in control of everything to our choices really matter in order to answer that. We want to look at head got really pretty determined thing if he has am I going to heaven or am I going to hell and if God is really in control and how can my choices matter? How can that all work together? So has God really determine who will go to heaven and hell? God is absolutely in control of everything and nothing happens outside of what God has purposed to do in if you look at a text. If you go back to verse chapter 9 verse 18 says he has Mercy on whom ever he will pardon him everywhere else. God gets to decide what happens there in verse 21. He Potter has the right to make one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable used again. God gets to decide what happens and verse 22, he's prepared some people as vessels of Wrath prepared for Destruction and others vessels of Mercy, which he prepared beforehand for Glory and if we go back to chapter 8 and look at verse 29, he says it very clearly Those whom he foreknew. He also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son. Do we have this unequivocal unequivocal statement that God is controlling every circumstance. The Bible tells us that we cannot come to God we cannot come and approach faith in Jesus Christ without God drawing us hasten John 6:44. No one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws them and I will raise them up on the last day and that's Jesus talking. So so God has to initiate us coming towards him. We just looked we've been looking through the whole first part of Romans is that we've all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We cannot do this on our own. So so God has to initiate this God has to provide a way for us to get right with him. We can't do it by ourselves and in God determines how when and how often we get pulled towards and how often we hear the gospel K 2nd Peter 3:9 says that God's desires that none will perish so he wants everybody to know him but suppose he comes to you five hundred times and says, I want you to know me to put people in front of you he puts scripture in front of you. He puts circumstances in front of you and let's say he comes to me and it only does it 10 times. He's still just the fact that he came to you five hundred times and they only 10 that means he gave you five hundred chances that a gift and me only 10 either way. It's still a gift. He's still just to say hey, I'm calling you to me. Will you do that? So From First to Last everything that happens around us is under God's control and were completely dependent on him for things to work out the way. We hope they will as I say that you're going to think about bad things. There's some folks in our in our congregation today that just had a tragedy in their family with a little one, you know, and you think of that something bad like that happening you do how can that happen in a world created by a good God some will argue that God doesn't make bad things happen and there's an element of Truth to that for sure. God does not initiate evil, but it's really easy for us to fall at or 210. Short if we follow that too far think of it this way. If you ask me to watch the kids downstairs during children's church. All right, and there's a little girl and an 8 year old bully comes up to her and pushes her down and steals her sucker and kicks her and and and just basically does mean things to her and I sat there and I watched the whole thing. What would you say to me? You say Dan. You're done no more that for you. Why did you do that? All right, and you should everything bad that has never happened in the world. He could have stopped Hitler in his a no crib and he chose not to answer one of the things we have to wrestle when we say. Hey God is in charge of everything. He is literally in charge of everything and when bad things happen God may not have initiated those things but God has allowed those things and we have to just acknowledge that that's the guy that we serve show has ever happened that God hasn't said. Yes. I'm going to let that happen cuz he could have stopped it. Nobody's won the lottery except. God says, yes, I'm going to let this person win the lottery if you're paralyzed in a car wreck today. It's because God allowed it to happen if I do circumstances that happened where that's just the outcome if you meet your future spouse today because God ordains that and if you never made a future spouse because God wants you to live a life single and in pursuing him then that is the very best thing and he's ordained that as well to every single thing that happens around. happens under God's auspices So the answer is yes. God has predetermined who will go to heaven and hell. Because any of us that ends up rejecting Jesus not allowed that to happen. And any buddy that says yes to Jesus got an able that to happen and that makes us uncomfortable to think that God may have predetermined stuff and that's why we're having this discussion, but I'm not going to make you comfortable yet. Okay, if God's predetermined who goes to heaven and hell I want to know which category I'm in anybody else there. It'd be kind of nice to know that in. This is why it's so beautiful that God goes from Republican chapter 9 talking about how God's in charge of everything 2 chapter 10 saying, hey, it's about faith K. Paul says that where you end up entirely depends on your faith in Jesus Romans 10:9, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved. 1013 for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. So where we end up is entirely dependent on our relationship with Jesus Christ. And so we have to ask this question if we're going to say am I going to heaven or hell am I going to live Trinity with God or live eternity in some bad place apart from him? We have to answer this question is your faith in Jesus. The determiner is that God sent his son to live a perfect life to pay the price for our sins to willingly go to a painful death on a cross so that he could pay that price and then God raised him up after 3 days and then he says, you know, what if you want to have access to this gift of forgiveness of sins if you want to live for eternity put your faith in Jesus Christ. And we either say yes, or we say no. If we say yes where we end up?

Even say that. We go to heaven we get the Abundant Life that God promised to us. Now. We get the Abundant Life fraternity that God had predestined through Jesus, but then God gives us exactly what we asked for. We said I don't want what you have to give and he says very well then. And that stuff and that brings us to this point of saying if God is really in control of everything. How is it possible that he could allow me to have choices. How is it possible that he can make it so that I can ask or make a decision that somehow impacts my eternity and so here's where we go with that.

First thing is God can allow Choice without relinquishing control. So one of the arguments that people in the church get into sometimes it's like if you're saying that your choice matters in God's Not really in control tanks and you all have experienced this in some way or another so imagine somebody taking their child. Let's say I take a little boy and my son to that the playground when he's just a few years old. Okay, I determine whether he gets there. I determine what parts of the playground he plays on I determine whether he goes and runs out in the street and you know, I keep him where he's supposed to be I make sure he stays away from the big dog becomes the park all this first step to I am fundamentally humanely anyways in control of what's going on and yet I allow my child to decide whether he's going to play in the sandbox. We're just going to climb up on that mushroom shaped thing whether he's going to go down the big slide or the small slide, whatever within my reign of sovereignty I have control. But I allow him to make choices that impact what happens to him. Even if it means he falls off the mushroom thing and cry right show show. There is it is totally possible to be in control and still allow people to have choices underneath that control and that's what God does with us. And that's why we see in chapter 9 that tall is saying God is in control of everything. He Harden's whoever he wants. He shows Mercy to everyone and then in chapter 10 that your destiny is depending on whether or not you have belief in Jesus Christ those two things are not fundamentally opposed to each other. Here's another big thoughts choices before we make them. Because he's outside of time and in order for my brain to comprehend this at the draw something. So I draw out and do something for you. Ok. Imagine. This is the timeline of all history what happened in 49?

Yeah, Columbus sail the ocean blue. I love it. What happened in 1969? I was born. Okay, and today's 2021m standing there in twenty twenty one. I'm looking I can see if I can I'm aware of choices and everything that that resulted in my birth. I'm aware of Columbus sail the ocean blue. I can look back on all these things. Can I look behind me at all? Can I see what's coming in the future? Absolutely not. So the idea is completely dependent on you do something now and then we look back on that and say hey, this is the choice that he made that is not where God lives God is outside of time. He created time and so show when God looks at things happening. He looks like this in 1492. He could see me being born. He could see what I was going to say today and know what I was going to say today. So God is Not constrained by time. Like we are he can even look forward and see when I'm going to die where there's an hour or a day or 10 years from now and he knows exactly the circumstances and you knows where my faith in Jesus is that time? Okay, and in amongst all that he has he can influence the world to offer me more chances to say yes to Jesus to slap me upside the head and say hey get your mind right where you can choose not to and allow my heart to be hardened that is his purview and his ability is God answer this question of choices fitting in with God summary plan because he's outside of time. He can know what's going to happen and you still give us latitude to make choices. I hope that makes sense to you. And here's the biggest thing for me as we consider this question. The Bible always presents the gift of Grace as an interaction between God's sovereignty and man's response to go through some famous verses that would be probably be familiar with straight what I mean. Forgot so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. Okay the stuff it was blue on my slide looks purple to me with that look like your head flew back there to show the blue up. Here is God's sovereignty that's him in control. He loved the world. He gave his one and only son. And now the green is there's a response required that whosoever believes in him. It's not that God is only in control and in your choices mean nothing. It's not that your choices dictate what God does it say God Sovereign Lee has said this is the this is how the world has been made how I have made it and I invite you to participate. Okay, here's another verse for by Grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves and to get to God, right? So the whole idea that's by Grace you have been saved is completely God working. It's Jesus coming to die for us. There's nothing we did to earn that. Nothing we could do to make it happen and yet God having done that sovereignty at just the right time in history. He says through faith. In other words. I need you to know how to make a decision based off of what I've done. Last one is what we read today. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead that is the will of man. And for those of you that are like detail people. I know believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead God has an element in that he pulls our hearts towards him but substantively all the stuff in green up. There is the will of man you deciding whether or not you're going to say yes to God. What are you going to say? Yes, I believe that Jesus is Lord. Okay, and if you do that God Sovereign Lee says you will be saved. They're here is where we end up if I can get the clicker to work right? Here's where we end up if God is in control of everything do my choices really matter. The answer is absolutely because he's chosen to honor our choices not because we forced his hand but because he loves us and that's what Paul is telling us in his vs. He's saying hey, you know what God does what he wants but our loving God wanted to say if you will put your faith in Jesus Christ, you will have eternity with me and because he's outside of time. He already knows who's done that okay and in his perfect mind if I can call it that he's already determined how many times that he's going to offer the gospel to people who he's going to harden for his own Glory but his desires that none would perish any offers the free gift of eternal life to all those who will say. Yes, I believe in Jesus Christ. They're one of the things I think that it's important for us to think about as we get to this conclusion. That that whole section in chapter 11 about being cut off subject of much angst in debate in the church. And here's what I don't want you to do. I don't want you to leave here and go. Oh my gosh. I'm not good enough. Well, maybe I do say oh my gosh. I'm not good enough. Praise be to God for Jesus Christ. Hey, but I don't want you to walk out this door say oh my gosh. I'm not good enough. I need to try harder. In order to win God's approval. That is not at all. What being said what's being said is if you were eight years old and somebody told you say a prayer and you did and then somebody told you because you said that prayer you now have eternal life. Hey, that is a lie. You have eternal life if you have faith in Jesus. Right. And so does that prayer matter? Absolutely? Okay, but is not some kind of incantation where we say it and we get this get out of hell free card and we put in our wallet until the day we die know he's saying in chapter 11 that hate when you come to Faith in Jesus Christ, it is a persistent thing. It means that who you are. That's how you live. Jesus is now your savior. Jesus is now your lord and that's where you live and so as we ask this question if God has been in control of everything do my choices really matter. Yes my choice that matters is whether I put my faith in Jesus Christ and that faith is a face that is enduring or persistent. It's not a faith that says hey I said a prayer one time in a service. It's a faith that says I know that Jesus died. I know that Jesus rose again. I know that he is currently my Lord and I know that someday I will get to spend eternity with him. Do if you know Jesus? Praise God, he's invited you to make that decision. You have your eternity is absolutely secure. If you don't know Jesus, why not? He's the only answer there is and God has said I will honor your choice. If you don't want Jesus, you can suffer the consequences. If you do want you to you can suffer the joy.