All Things Together For Good: Chap. 7 Pt. 4

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April 7, 2022

The Puritan Thomas Watson's book, All Things For Good, walks through Romans 8:28 showing us how all of God's attributes work for our good. This does not mean that difficulties, trials, and affliction will be avoided, but however will work for our benefit. Join us as we go through the seventh chapter highlighting God's effectual calling.

Hermeneutics: Matthew Chap 24 Pt. 5

00:00: All righty, so this may be our last evening in Chapter 7.
00:21: And then we just have two more chapters to go, and they're actually pretty short. So we might only have one week per chapter.
00:30: So three weeks, including this one, we might be done. We'll see. Someone has been on one of my classes before.
00:40: That's right, just a wee bit. No more than myself, though, a healthy dose. All right, so we're hopefully, maybe, finishing off Chapter 7, talking about the doctrine of effectual calling.
00:55: Last week, we spoke about how can I know, the question was, how can
01:01: I know I'm effectually called? And the first answer was, he who is savingly called is called out of himself, not only out of sinful self, but out of righteous self.
01:13: And that was a good point to consider. A lot of times, we think of conversion.
01:18: We think of the calling of someone. And they leave their sin behind.
01:25: They're kind of entangled in all sorts of habitual sin. And they recognize that, and they leave that behind.
01:31: But there's also those who are convinced, up until that moment of effectual calling, that they are, indeed, good people.
01:41: They are earning their righteousness, and that they would stand before God justified because they're good, or at least they're good deeds.
01:50: That way, they're bad deeds, or at least they're better than their neighbor, whatever it is. But they're looking to themselves.
01:57: And the one who's effectually called recognizes, no, their selfless righteousness. Their self -righteousness is just that.
02:04: It does not make them righteous in the eyes of God. So the second answer to that question, how can
02:12: I know I'm effectually called, says, he who is effectually called has a great change wrought.
02:19: Knows what wrought means. Anyone? Wrought iron. Wrought iron, right.
02:25: You work the iron. You work the iron. That's it. A great change has been worked inside of you.
02:30: But wrought, we should bring that back. I just don't feel like we don't use that enough. It's not a. It's a wrought.
02:35: What's that? Wrought, right. And two more weeks into the chapter seven, as we all try to speak like Puritans for the rest of the chapter.
02:55: So he has a great change wrought. Not a change of the faculties, but of the qualities. He is altered from what he was before.
03:03: His body is the same, but not his mind. He has another spirit. Paul was so changed after his conversion that people did not know him.
03:13: Oh, what a metamorphosis does grace make. Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God?
03:19: Do not be deceived, neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor male prostitutes, nor homosexual offenders, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
03:35: And that is what some of you were. But you were washed.
03:40: You were sanctified. You were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And by the spirit of our
03:46: God, grace changes the heart. And this is one of the real tests of someone who has been effectually called.
03:55: There's a change in them. They are not who they used to be. We live in a sad time where people are still trying to identify by their sin, to say,
04:06: I am. Well, the most obvious one is, I'm a gay Christian. And this is simply not true.
04:13: That was some of them. Some of the converts were at one time.
04:18: But they have been washed, and sanctified, and justified. They no longer identify with that identity.
04:24: They've been made new in Christ. So we'll talk a little bit more about that change.
04:32: In effectual calling, there is a threefold change wrought. One, there's a change wrought in the understanding.
04:40: Before, there was ignorance. But now there is light. Now you are light in the
04:45: Lord. The first work of God in the creation of the world was light. So it is in the new creation.
04:52: He who is savingly called says with that man in the gospel, I once was blind, but now
04:57: I see. He sees such evil, and sin, and excellency in the ways of God as he never saw before.
05:05: Indeed, this light which the blessed spirit brings may well be called the marvelous light, that you should show forth the praises of him who has called you into his marvelous light.
05:17: It is a marvelous light in six respects. And so we'll talk about those in just a moment. A change wrought in the understanding.
05:27: There was ignorance. What were we ignorant of before? Our sin?
05:39: Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.
05:51: Yeah. I mean, when we talk about repentance, what does repentance mean? What's that?
05:58: We would have known repentance, right? Turning around, changing our ways, right?
06:04: I mean, common grace, you have people who recognize that they do need to change. You have the addict who needs to put off this because it's so obviously, clearly destroying their life.
06:17: But we've talked about addiction and other sins like that. It's a worship problem, right?
06:23: They're worshiping the wrong thing. But sometimes they'll just change one idol for another, one that's a little more socially acceptable, but just as sinful before God if they're not looking to him.
06:37: So there's an ignorance of their sin, not fully understanding, not fully appreciating. They know they're guilty.
06:43: I mean, Romans tells us that even if they don't have the law, when they act in accordance with the law, they show that it's written, you know, the works is written on their heart.
06:52: But now they truly see it for what it is. There is a change. They were blind, but now they see.
07:00: So let's talk about how marvelous this light is. It's marvelous because it is supernaturally conveyed.
07:09: It does not come from the celestial orbs where the planets are, but from the sun of righteousness. Two, it is marvelous in the effect.
07:17: The light does that which no other light can. It makes a man perceive himself to be blind.
07:26: Three, it is a marvelous light because it is more penetrating. Other light may shine upon the face, but this light shines into the heart.
07:34: It enlightens the conscience. Four, it is a marvelous light because it sets those who have it a marveling.
07:41: They marvel at themselves. How could they be contented to be so long without it? They marvel that their eyes should be opened and not others.
07:50: They marvel that notwithstanding their previous hatred and opposition of this light, yet it should shine in their souls.
07:58: This is what the saints will stand wondering at to all eternity. I'll read the last two and then we'll come back.
08:06: Number five, it is a marvelous light because it is more vital than any others. It not only enlightens, but it quickens.
08:13: It makes alive those who are dead in trespasses and sins. Therefore, it is called the light of life.
08:20: It is a marvelous light because it is the beginning of everlasting light. The light of grace is the morning star, which ushers in the sunlight of glory.
08:32: Now then, reader, can you say that this marvelous light of the Spirit has dawned upon you? When you were enveloped in ignorance and neither knew
08:40: God nor yourself, did suddenly a light from heaven shine in your mind. This is one part of that blessed change which is wrought in the effectual calling.
08:52: We move quickly through those six. But just to touch on them again real quick, one of the things
09:02: I appreciate about reading the Puritans and specifically
09:07: Thomas Watson here is their way of bringing obvious things, true things, but saying them in a beautiful way, saying them in a way that reminds us just how profound these truths are.
09:22: And it should be a source of encouragement to us. It supernaturally conveys, as it does not come from the celestial orbs where the planets are, but from the sun of righteousness.
09:34: Why is that marvelous? It might seem like an obvious question. Why is that marvelous that it's supernaturally conveyed?
09:48: An internal thing. It's not something that I generated myself. It's something that was bestowed upon me by the mercy and grace of God.
09:55: You know, I love... This to me goes right back to Genesis 1. God says, let there be light. And then he separated the light from the darkness.
10:03: He pulls you out of the darkness. Now you're part of the new creation, which is what
10:11: Genesis 1 was talking about and the recreation in John 1. And all through the book of John, it's that light -darkness thing.
10:19: Every time Nicodemus came to Jesus, before he knew him, he came in the dark. After he knew and trusted him, you see him coming to Jesus in the light because now he's willing to openly profess
10:32: Christ as Messiah because he's been in light supernaturally. I guess the obvious answer, too, would be because it's not natural.
10:42: Natural is something that we might do, something that we might accomplish, but this is accomplished by God.
10:50: It's not just for the ordinary day. Naturally. Naturally.
10:56: All right. I feel like a stand -up bit coming up. We're just going to move on. Tying it with number four there, how special it is.
11:10: Again, it's not something that we could do of ourselves. Everyone, almost everyone, yes, there's people who are legitimately blind and they can't see, but for everyone else, for the vast majority of us, we have the sun, right?
11:27: We have the moon. We have the stars, and we can see by these things, and yet God in his mercy gave us this light that we might see.
11:39: When we remember that we did not earn it, you know, and tying it there, I mean, I asked about it last time, who remembered the hymn,
11:46: How Sweet and Awful is the Place, right? And we wonder, like, why was I bid to come, you know, when so many others are out there?
11:56: And again, when you understand that it's not because I'm more special, it's not because I'm smarter or nobler or have some hidden value that God could see that no one else could see.
12:07: No, it's simply because God was merciful, and in his good pleasure, he decided to set his mercy on me. That should be amazingly humbling to us.
12:19: You know, for those who hold to the doctrines of grace, we should be the most graceful. We should be the most humble, because it really is nothing in ourselves.
12:28: So it's supernaturally conveyed. It's not natural, and there's something special to that.
12:34: Marvelous in the effect, the light does that which no other light can.
12:40: It makes a man perceive himself to be blind. Yeah, the impact of it here, in number two and three, when you get this light, you realize where you were.
12:52: You realize how, you know, you were just going about life, you know, as one pastor used to put it, fat, dumb, and happy.
13:03: Just, you know, totally, totally content with, you know, your situation, your circumstances, and not realizing just how blind you were to your sin.
13:14: And yet, it shows you that you were blind. It shows you that there's still blindness, you know.
13:23: As a Christian, especially when you're early on in the faith, actually, that's an interesting one.
13:29: Sometimes when people are early on, they're aware of just how much they don't know, how much they still need. And sometimes, well, hopefully, as you mature in the faith, and you start to learn more, you're like, oh, there's just still more.
13:44: There's so much more to realize. But this light, it's penetrating.
13:50: You know, the other light shines upon the face. You could get a sunburn from it. But the light shines into the heart, enlightens the conscience.
13:58: It really is like nothing else. And so, these are some of the things about the marvelous light.
14:04: Any, well, let's finish five and six here. It's more vital than any others, right?
14:13: And not only enlightens, it quickens. You know, we appreciate the sun, especially on a nice, warm day, when it's not too hot, right?
14:23: And we appreciate it because we can see, you know, we live in a world of technology where we have electric light, you know.
14:31: We're not used to, like, you know, maybe the islanders are a little bit more used to it, where, you know, you have a candle, but how long do those last?
14:36: I think of, like, the pioneer days where they had, it seemed like they had so little of everything. You know, I think a candle would be something when the town is miles and miles away by horse, you know, or foot, you know.
14:49: They're doing everything by daylight, and when it becomes dark, you just rest and go to bed.
14:55: No more reading, no more doing this, no more doing that. If you have a candle, I think that would be a precious commodity.
15:00: And so you can see here, but this light is not just about seeing, although it is, seeing spiritual truths, spiritual reality, but it actually creates new life in us.
15:13: This light makes us alive, where we recognize what the scripture says. We were dead.
15:18: We were nowhere. And it's just the beginning. It's the beginning of the everlasting light.
15:25: The light of grace is the morning star which ushers in the sunlight of glory. So just reflecting on these things, meditating on these things, reflecting, that's the unintentional pun, but yes, there it is.
15:40: As we meditate on these things, we should be encouraged, and we should be thinking, well, is this true of me?
15:49: And this is what Thomas Watson asks us. Can you say that this marvelous light of the
15:54: Spirit has dawned upon you? You were in ignorance, neither knew God nor yourself.
16:00: And that's the thing too. Most people don't recognize who they really are until that light from heaven shines in our mind.
16:08: And so this is part of the blessed change that has wrought an effectual calling. Any other questions or comments before we?
16:15: I do have a comment. Please. Of course, we're talking about an effectual calling here, but as we mature as Christians, we can stifle that light.
16:25: Yeah. I find that the more that we study
16:31: Scripture, the more we obviously see our sin. And so first and foremost, that's one way that we do tend to stifle that growth, that maturity.
16:43: The second, obviously, is prayer. If you're separating yourself from that communion, that communication with God, that's sure a sign that you stifle the growth.
17:00: Amen. I mean, we're told don't quench the Spirit, right? And it's the
17:06: Spirit that is the one who brings that light. The Spirit is the one who illuminates the
17:12: Scriptures to us. The Spirit is the one who quickens us. And so it's right there. This light is accomplished through the
17:20: Spirit and we can quench the Spirit. Not dealing properly with our sin, not confessing it, not repenting of it, and allowing that to just grow.
17:33: The besetting sins we talk about. We're in Hebrews. Yeah, we can stifle it.
17:41: And prayer, as you said, that is an opportunity for God to bring to mind things.
17:49: The busyness of life. Hopefully, if we're in the
17:54: Word, the Word is going to remind us. The Word is going to convict us as we're reading it and God will bring to memory, what have you been doing here?
18:07: Or what did you do there and haven't dealt with? If we're in the body where we have opportunity to encourage and at times exhort one another, these things will come to mind as well.
18:23: But prayer is yet another means of grace where God can bring things to mind, where He can shine that light in us that we understand our spiritual reality, things that we need to understand from the
18:38: Word, things we need to understand about ourselves and others. But yeah, if we refuse to be in prayer, if we don't make much of it, we're certainly stifling the ability for that light to shine through, so amen.
18:53: Good observation. Anyone else before we move on to the next one? Very good, okay.
19:04: There's a change wrought in the will. Talking about a threefold change here, right?
19:10: Number two. The will is present with me. I have the desire to do what is right.
19:16: For those who don't have the King James memorized, that's what that's saying. The will which before opposed
19:22: Christ now embraces Him. The will which was an iron sinew against Christ is now like melting wax.
19:29: It readily receives the stamp and impression of the Holy Spirit. The will moves heavenward and carries all the orbs of the affections along with it.
19:38: The regenerate will answer to every call of God. The regenerate will answers to every call of God as the echo answers to the voice,
19:48: Lord, what will you have me do? The will now becomes a volunteer. It enlists itself under the captain of salvation.
19:56: Oh, what a happy change is wrought here before the will kept
20:01: Christ out. Now it keeps sin out. So just a comment there.
20:08: I think he's using the King James or something very similar to it. And so I have the desire to do what is right.
20:14: Acts 9, 6, if you're wondering about that, Lord, what will you have me do? Anyone know?
20:22: Yeah. Paul on the road to Damascus and the Lord reveals himself. And the
20:28: King James says, Lord, what will you have me do? The ESV and the NASB don't have that particular part of the exchange.
20:37: But we see that's, well, we don't know if it's a certainly accurate, verbatim of the discussion between Paul and Christ.
20:50: Clearly, Paul went to go do whatever the Lord sent him to do. He readily obeyed.
20:56: And we see that same attitude when Peter is preaching at Pentecost and he comes to the end and he doesn't have to offer the altar call.
21:04: The men are cut to the heart and they're like, brothers, what should we do? And so when we are called, the change in our will is,
21:14: Lord, what next? What do I do? So it's completely consistent with everything, even if, you know, sometimes the wording is different or we're missing a phrase here, depending on the translation.
21:30: Question about that? That seems pretty straightforward.
21:36: What do you deal with people who don't seem to be interested in what the Lord would have them do? Or do we ever have a moment when we're not interested in what the
21:45: Lord would have us do? Jonah, when he was first called, he didn't say, what would you have me do?
21:52: He knew what he wanted him to do and he did not want to, right? And how did that work out for him? You know, he ran away, but God in his mercy did not let him get away.
22:04: He put him through some... He did an attitude adjustment for him somewhat. But we still see
22:11: Jonah's heart still wasn't fully there, right? He repents, he prays a prayer of repentance, and yet he goes and he's still angry.
22:20: And, you know, it's kind of left open at the end. Well, how did he respond?
22:25: The question is, how do you respond? You know, we know what's right, we know what the Lord wants from us, and yet we struggle with it.
22:33: And we see Jonah, who's a prophet, who was used by God. He had other good prophecies for Israel in the past, but this was not one that he wanted to share.
22:45: But the Christian in our daily walk will find that we'll sometimes...
22:50: We'll come across something that our flesh kind of rails against.
22:55: We don't want to obey, but we... On the other hand, we do, right?
23:01: The flesh and spirit are at war. And so we'll have a moment of victory and we'll say, all right, yes,
23:07: Lord, I'll do it. And then later on, it comes up again. Like, again? And there's going to be times where God continually puts us through the paces.
23:17: And we want to make sure that the spirit is winning here. We have to be concerned for someone who there is no change in their will.
23:27: They make a profession of God, but they never seem to be interested in what the Scriptures have to say. They always have a reason and an excuse why not to do that.
23:36: Questions or comments about that before we move to the last? Just Isaiah, right?
23:41: Isaiah's response was, here I am. Yeah. Where, interesting, you think about the fall, right?
23:52: What was Adam's first response? Yeah. Here I am.
24:01: Steve? I'm so glad Jerry said Isaiah because I know in Genesis 3,
24:08: Adam hid. He didn't, you know, God called him and he didn't say, here I am. Like Isaiah did, but Abraham also would always say, here
24:15: I am. And Cain was someone who didn't answer, here
24:22: I am. Where is your brother? My brother's keeper, sarcasm. Talking back to God.
24:28: Man, oh man. That's what always gets me when people say, oh, well, if God would reveal himself, I'm like, well, he's done that before.
24:35: And you see how people respond. That's the hardness of heart. That's where we would be at if God didn't have mercy on us and restrain our sin or change it altogether.
24:48: So that's a change wrought in the understanding, a change wrought in the will, a change in the conduct.
25:00: He who is called of God walks directly contrary to what he did before. He walked before in envy and malice, now he walks in love.
25:08: Before he walked in pride, now he walks in humility. The current is carried quite another way.
25:15: As in the heart there is a new birth, so in the life, a new conduct. Thus we see what a mighty change is wrought in all who are called by God.
25:23: How far are they from this effectual call who have never had any change? They are the same as they were 40 or 50 years ago, as proud and carnal as ever.
25:33: They have seen many changes in their times, but they have had no change in their heart. Let not men think to leap out of the harlot's lap, the world, into Abraham's bosom.
25:43: They must either have a gracious change while they live or a cursed change when they die.
25:49: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come.
25:55: I feel like even before I was already talking about conduct, it's just so tied together.
26:00: Will and conduct. We struggle sometimes, but our will, our desire should be to be obeying
26:09: God. Questions about this. What about the person,
26:16: I'm kind of touching on it with the last one, what are those where there is no change?
26:23: We have the professors, but if there's no change of conduct, if they seem to be content to just say, oh,
26:33: I believe in Jesus, is that enough? No fruit.
26:42: Leaping out of the harlot's lap, that's one way to put it, the world. Friendship with the world is idolatry, it's adultery.
26:54: To think that I'm just going to immerse myself in the world and then jump right into Abraham's bosom, go right to heaven, that's some delusional thinking there.
27:05: If we are to know, how can I know I'm effectually called, we should have a change in our thinking, a change in the will.
27:13: I think it needs to be expressed that this is a process. You're changed overnight as far as the disposition of your will, but your conduct, hopefully, is going to improve.
27:26: It's not perfect. Because so many people will think, they've changed the way they're living, and it's a slow process.
27:38: They're thinking, did God not do something in my heart? Even just asking that question might be evidence that God has done something you wouldn't have even asked that.
27:49: But it's not like you're immediately delivered of all these things that the flesh and the world and the devil are offering you.
27:56: This is a process by which we're molded and shaped, and it's going to happen to the day we die.
28:01: Thank God we have that promise. It's a process. That's an excellent point.
28:08: I'm glad you brought that up. There's the implication there when he talks about they're the same as they were 40 or 50 years ago.
28:17: Thomas Watson's giving you a chance over the decades to change, but after decades of saying that you believe in them, there's no change.
28:25: That's a real cause for concern. Just to make sure it's on the tape. I know that records it well, this not as much.
28:33: This is a process. Your sanctification is a progressive sanctification.
28:39: We don't have perfection on this side of the veil before glory, but we should be striving to put off the old and put on the new.
28:50: Forget what lies behind and reach forward to what lies ahead. We should be growing, but that's a good point.
28:58: You hear some people who they get saved later on and sometimes there's a radical transformation.
29:05: I want to go say that curse word. I couldn't say it anymore. I didn't have a desire for this addiction I used to have before.
29:11: Sometimes there are certain things that are just taken away immediately. Then there's other things that aren't. There's addictions that might not be taken away immediately.
29:20: There's desires that aren't taken away immediately. It is a process of daily dying to ourselves, picking up our cross and following after Christ.
29:29: The change in conduct, this is not talking about you're completely different and if you're sinning at all you're not effectually called.
29:37: No, that's not the case. That's a good word of encouragement for us who are not perfect.
29:45: We do want to see change. It's something where, again, if you're imbibing the means of grace, you're in prayer, you're in the word, you're with the body, you'll be able to gauge what's going on there and what fruit has been born and what areas are still room for growth.
30:06: Indeed, yes. How can I know I'm effectually called? This is the third.
30:14: We have a call out of himself. We have effectually called has great change.
30:20: He who is called of God esteems his call as the highest blessing. A king whom
30:26: God has called by his grace esteems it more that he is called to be a saint than that he is called to be a king.
30:33: He values his high calling more than his high birth. The odosius thought a greater honor to be a
30:41: Christian than to be an emperor. A carnal person can no more value spiritual blessings than an infant can value a diamond necklace.
30:50: He prefers his worldly grandeur, his ease, plenty, and titles of honor before conversion.
30:56: He had rather be called duke than saint. This is a sign he is a stranger to effectual calling.
31:03: He who is enlightened by the spirit counts holiness his best heraldry and looks upon his effectual calling as his choicest blessing.
31:12: When he has taken this degree, he is a candidate for heaven. That's excellent.
31:21: How many of us are aspiring or would aspire if we can,
31:26: I'm sure, attain it by godly means for wealth or fame or you know, who doesn't like to have a great reputation?
31:34: Who doesn't like to be world renowned? Who wouldn't like that? Maybe some people.
31:40: Leave me alone. Get off my lawn. But you know, you think about the world.
31:51: Think about social media. How people chase after likes and retweets and TikTok videos going viral and all that.
32:00: People are pursuing to be known. How many of us are more concerned, does god know me?
32:08: Has god called me? Because I would give up everything for that.
32:14: We see that sometimes. There have been, every now and then you might hear of it of someone who is famous or wealthy.
32:23: To come to Christ means they have to give up everything else because they can't hold the two together.
32:31: The world is not going to accept them because they follow Christ. Jesus said that, you know, if the world hated me, the world is going to hate you.
32:42: But there are those who truly follow after him because he is worthy. I found this to be a really excellent point as the highest blessing.
32:54: Talking about a king, I remember talking to someone just recently who was struggling with family issues.
33:04: Their perspective was, they are professing to be a believer but it was so clear in their heart from what they were saying was they would rather have their family than god.
33:20: The relationship was strained and trying to give them biblical counsel,
33:26: I have to put my kids first. And of course, we love our children.
33:33: We pray for the next generation here all the time. But when the desire is
33:40: I'd rather have something else besides god, I would rather do whatever it takes to get this rather than to be obedient to god.
33:49: That's not esteeming the call as the highest blessing. It's something for us to examine ourselves.
33:56: Is there anything that we put above our calling? Above the fact that we have been adopted by the king of kings.
34:06: If you know what I mean. King of kings is Christ. Adopted by virtue of the king of kings.
34:13: Made the bride of Christ. Questions or comments on that?
34:19: Does that get your mind thinking one way or the other? Is it something we think about at times?
34:27: I think sometimes we don't do a compare and contrast. Very few people would say
34:35: I would rather have this than the lord. Most people realize what that sounds like coming out.
34:42: But then there are some people who it doesn't matter to them. Questions?
34:48: Comments? I just think that most people today they want Christ and profess
34:54: Christ but they don't want to give up this. I've tried to talk to several different people and said whatever you will not give up for Christ, that's your
35:05: God. Because you won't give that up. So we have to follow Christ when he says don't do this, don't do that.
35:13: Whatever that is, that we have to give up because we value him all the more. Reminds me of Hebrews and Moses.
35:21: He didn't consider the reproach of Christ. He didn't consider the riches of Egypt.
35:30: He would rather leave that for Christ. Such a powerful testimony.
35:37: He's sitting in the lap of luxury. He goes down to the desert to Jesus.
35:43: That's what he should have done. Amen. Very good.
35:51: Coming near to the end. Two more. How do we know that we're effectually called?
35:58: He who is effectually called is called out of the world. It is a heavenly calling. He who is called of God minds the things of a heavenly aspect.
36:07: He is in the world but not of the world. Naturalists say of precious stones, though they have their matter from the earth, yet their sparkling luster is from the influence of the heavens.
36:21: So it is with a godly man. Though his body is from the earth, yet the sparkling of his affections is from heaven.
36:27: His heart is drawn into the upper region, as high as Christ. He not only casts off every wicked work, but every earthly weight.
36:36: He is not a worm, but an eagle. So, what is he saying here?
36:47: Put that in a little more modern English. Talk about precious stones.
37:00: It's reflecting the cosmos, the beauty out there. Sometimes we think here is kind of dull by comparison, right?
37:10: We think of those heavenly bodies and whatnot. And yet, what's the comparison for those who are called of God?
37:21: They don't seem like they belong here, in a sense, because they don't have the same affections, they don't have the same interests and desires as everyone else seemed to have prior to that.
37:34: We're in darkness. We're children of wrath. We're walking about that way, chasing after our own passions and desires.
37:42: And yet, here is someone who's thinking way beyond them. We talk,
37:49: I remember hearing the expression about, and we've probably said it here before, about being so heavenly minded and no earthly good, then you're all askew.
38:00: You should be so heavenly minded that you're actually earthly good more than anyone else, because we want to see his kingdom come and his will be done here on earth, as it is in heaven.
38:14: And so we're thinking about those things that are above. We're thinking about Christ and his perfect reign.
38:19: We're thinking about the heavenly pattern that we are to be living out here. You think about the temple, the pattern
38:26: I showed you, right? Thinking about that, that we are worshipping God according to his pattern, that we are living our lives according to his way.
38:35: It's radically different than everything else the world has done, because that's what the fall has done. Yeah, I was, for my history of the church class,
38:44: I was reading a book, and they were talking about how different the Christians were from the rest of the Roman society.
38:50: They would stay away from all the entertaining places and stuff like that, and that was really a big deal for that culture.
38:58: And then just talking also about how they didn't like them because they were just so different from them in that aspect, but also how obviously the government takes care of the poor and stuff, but back then they didn't have that, and so the church did that, and it just made an impact on the people around them because they were so radically different from everybody else.
39:18: Yeah. I'll get right to you.
39:26: You know, you think about the Roman empire, and they would have their coliseum, and their way of entertaining, and a lot of it was bloodthirsty gladiators, and this isn't the wrestling we have today.
39:43: It's not the movies we have today. Real people are being maimed and killed for our entertainment.
39:50: Right? And Christians understood they couldn't have any part of that. And their other entertainment.
39:57: I mean, Paul talks about orgies, drinking, and all this stuff. I mean, we see some of that still today.
40:02: There's still a carryover today. But we live in a world that has, particularly here in America, there was such an impact because of the gospel that we started viewing things differently, and so as we talked about here, the gospel actually curbs sin and sinful men as it's being cultivated and going out and taking root.
40:32: It grows to be the biggest tree in the garden. It's going to have an impact on the rest of the world. Even today, we have things where we're not going to literally kill each other or kill other people for our entertainment.
40:45: We'll use fake blood. We'll just pretend to kill each other. Right? But there's still drinking. There's still sex.
40:51: There's still all these kinds of sin. But taking care of the poor, that you mentioned. We have all these social welfare programs.
41:01: You know what would be different today is if the church said, that's not doing it God's way, and you're not actually helping people as much as you think they are because you're kind of, unfortunately with the welfare system today, while there are people who are in genuine need, a lot of them can be de -incentivized.
41:20: Did I say that right? I'm not sure. You're going to cause them not to want to work. How many people, how many employers found they couldn't get employees to come back to work after COVID because they were making more money on the unemployment rolls.
41:34: The government gave them money to sit home and they gave them so much money when they had the opportunity to work, they're like,
41:41: I'm doing better here. If the church would take it to start showing true hospitality, caring for the poor.
41:51: But again, that would look different. We have to be careful because when we, social media can be a source of entertainment, and too often we're following along with the world.
42:03: I'm not saying we can't be engaged in social media, but when we look like everyone else on social media, or worse, that's a problem.
42:10: But yeah, we should be called out of this world. We should look different. You had mentioned building the temple earlier, and what is the temple?
42:21: The temple is the body of Christ. It's people. And Paul says our work is going to be tested.
42:27: Is it gold, silver, or precious jewels? Right? So we are building with precious jewels.
42:32: It's people. We're sowing into people. And that's how we bring the kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. We bring souls into the kingdom.
42:39: We edify them. We put them together and we see the body of Christ work. The problem is our perception is in the natural, not the supernatural.
42:48: Right? Pharaoh's house was built with wood, hay, and stubble. And that's what Paul says. Your work is going to be inflamed.
42:57: Tried by fire. Tried by fire. Gold, silver, precious jewels, the temple of God. Wood, hay, and stubble, the temple of Pharaoh.
43:04: You're either building for the world, or you're building for the kingdom. There's no middle ground. Amen. Amen. I think this is the last one.
43:14: Another sign of our effectual calling is diligence in our ordinary calling. Some boast of their high calling, but they lie idly at anchor.
43:23: True religion does not give warrant to idleness. Christians must not be slothful. Idleness is the devil's bath.
43:30: A slothful person becomes a prey to every temptation. Grace, while it cures the heart, does not make the hand lame.
43:37: He who is called of God as he works for heaven, so he works in his trade. And some very practical insight there as far as those who are called.
43:50: Paul talked about if a man doesn't work, neither does he eat. He talked about people who are waiting for the end of the world.
43:57: They're just going from house to house, and they're idle. And he goes, this is not to be. We should be diligent to be working because our diligence is another sign of our effectual calling.
44:11: It's another sign as we're representing Christ. It was Martin Luther who said you don't need to put a cross on every shoe if you're a shoemaker to be in ministry.
44:22: Just make the best shoe. So we should be diligent to do the work and work well.
44:29: And that's another sign of our effectual calling. We're not working to be just men pleasers.
44:35: Oh, look busy. The boss is coming. That sort of thing. Questions or comments about that?
44:42: Steve? When you're idle, you're just right.
44:50: It's the devil's bath. You do become great at every temptation.
44:56: If you don't have something to do, if you don't have... And whatever you do in word and deed in the name of the
45:02: Lord Jesus, give it back to Him, to God the Father. If you're going to be idle, if you're at the doctor's office, and you have to wait for your turn, that's a moment where you're idle.
45:13: But whatever you do in word and deed, you don't want to be idle, but sometimes you don't have a choice. As a lifestyle, you don't want to be idle.
45:21: It just invites... It gives power to the temptations that we're going to be exposed to.
45:32: Think about it. If you get tempted by something and you're in the middle of something, how much easier is it to not sin, then you're not doing anything.
45:43: And you get the thought. There's nothing to replace that thought with an immediate...
45:51: And as Christians, we should also be engaged in advancing the Kingdom of Christ. Active.
46:00: We should be productive. He's talking about here in our ordinary calling, so making sure that we're working hard in whatever we're called to do.
46:10: Go through Proverbs at the men's breakfast and talk about, go to the end. You slug it, right? And that's another sign, like you said, of our effectual calling, but it's also true that when the day is done, we do have the ability to rest and everything like that, but we live in a society where there's a lot of time for rest and relaxation, and we're kind of more entertainment -driven.
46:34: So we need to be careful. You know? Rest is necessary, but we want to make sure that we're also being productive.
46:43: We're walking with balance and wisdom. Any questions or comments about that before...
46:51: I think that's the end. It's the end of Chapter 7. We made it. ... ...