Text:
Romans 8:29-30:
29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
Theme:
The Called and The Qualified
Introduction:
- In The Epistle to the Romans, Paul is writing to a group of people who are the heart of the Gentile nation. These are a people who do not and cannot relate to the strict traditions and rhetoric existing in the Jewish community. They couldn’t understand “Old folk talk”. They needed things to be broken down to plain and simple terms that relate to their real existence. Paul did just that. He wrote Romans closer to the “How To” methodology than any of his letters.
- The church in Rome was begun by Christians after Pentecost and had in its population a large number of Romans who were Gentiles.
- Paul’s purpose is to explain the great “truths” of the gospel to the Jewish-Gentile church in Rome
- It is unique in that it is a systematic exposition of the gospel of universal application à Salvation is free to all.
- Our text gives us a special look into what we can call “God’s way of doing things”
- We all know that God’s way is not our way à Isaiah 55:8, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.”
- Our text specifically shows how God selects His workers
- For we know that in Matthew 9:37, “Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;”
- There is a specific order and directedness to what God does
- God PREDESTINES
- The concept of predestination is that “the eternal, sovereign, immutable, and unconditional decree or “determinate purpose” of God governs all events.”
- Predestination is couched in God’s character of omniscience à He knows all!
- People sometimes question man’s free will in the context of this concept.
- Predestination does not contradict man’s free will
- Free will is from a human perspective
- Predestination is from a Divine perspective
- Our text explains that God PREDESTINES the labourers for His vineyard
- As with Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”
- Ephesians 1:4, “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:”
- 1Peter 1:20, “Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,”
- Predestination does not contradict man’s free will
- God CALLS
- God 2Peter 1:10, “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:”
- PLACE and POSITION are critical to the Called Preacher à It’s not the CAPABILITY. It’s the AVAILABILITY!
- PLACE is where you are in your life
- Where the Call makes its mandate on the life…God calls the Preacher
- Philippians 4:8 explains the PLACE
- “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”
- POSITION is where you are in Christ
- The choice of the Called Preacher which dictates the “effectiveness” of his Calling
- As Matthew 5:48 explains,
- “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”
- PLACE is where you are in your life
- The Calling begins the manifestation of the Predestination
- Romans 9:11, “(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)”
- The Calling is God’s beckoning of His child into what God has already predestined for Him
- For the few and not the many…
- Matthew 22:14, “For many are called, but few are chosen.”
- Many are called but only few of the called are actually of the predestined.
- God JUSTIFIES
- JUSTIFICATION is “the judicial act of God, by which he pardons all the sins of those who believe in Christ, and accounts, accepts, and treats them as righteous in the eye of the law”
- Romans 5:1-2, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”
- We were wrong, but He made us RIGHT
- We didn’t deserve it, but He did it anyway through the birth, life, suffering, death, burial and ascension of our Lord and Savior Jesus, the Christ!
- We were wrong, but He made us RIGHT
- God GLORIFIES
- Glorification is “To make glorious, or cause so to appear”
- We as God’s children are glorified in that we were once “filthy rags” as Isaiah described, but God…
- Saved us and cleaned our attitude.
- Picked us up and cleaned our direction.
- Placed us on “a rock to stay”
- Protected us from the enemy
- None other can harm us at this point!
- We may have the same bodies and minds, but we don’t look the same!!! Something’s different!!
- God PREDESTINES
- However, if one notices closely a this process, one will notice that
- instead of CALLING THOSE WHO ARE QUALIFIED for the task, God actually QUALIFIES THOSE WHO ARE CALLED for the task
- for this reason, let us look more closely at THE CALLED AND THE QUALIFIED
Body:
- In the workforce today, there has been much anxiety over the unemployment situation.
- People are always losing their job
- People are always looking for a job
- People are always looking for another job to subsidize the one that they have.
- The job market in today’s world makes today’s theme very appropriate à The Called and The Qualified
- Even though there are exceptions to the rule and sometimes even new rules to the rule, it is supposed be that the ones who are QUALIFIED get the opportunity to serve in the position after they have been CALLED to be told of the company’s interest in their hire.
- In this world, those who are QUALIFIED are the ones that are CALLED!
- However, we know that at the same time God is looking for labourers also!
- Matthew 20:1, “For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.”
- God wants labourers for His vineyard à winning souls to Jesus, the Christ!
- Matthew 20:2, “And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.”
- Luke 10:2, “Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.”
- Mark 16:15, “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”
- BUT, God CALLS the labourers and then QUALIFIES them after they have harkened to the call!
- Backwards from the way the world does it!
- God CALLS then QUALIFIES!
- Grace is the only means for this construct!
- Ephesians 2:8, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:”
- As the old hymn says, “He looked beyond my faults and saw my needs.”
- God CALLS us because of what we will be and not what we are!
- Romans 5:8, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
- He saw Himself being glorified through us and saved us for His Divine Purpose.
- Grace is the only means for this construct!
Conclusion:
- So, I thank God that He CALLED me!!
- He has ordained that I be His child and serve Him
- He has CALLED me to serve Him and preach His Word
- So, I thank God that He QUALIFIED me!!!
- When I did not know what to do
- When I did not know where to go
- He taught me!
- He brought me!
- He gave me a testimony
- He gave me a song
- He gave me a prayer
- Because I was QUALIFIED, I can do anything through Him!
- Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
- I am THE CALLED AND THE QUALIFIED!!
- Thanks be to God and His unspeakable gift!!!
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