Sermon #483
Title: The Sevenfold Purpose of God
Text: Romans 8:28; 9:11; Ephesians 1:11; 3:11; 2 Timothy 1:9
Reading:
Subject: The certain accomplishment of God’s eternal purpose
Date: Sunday Morning - February 26, 1983
Tape
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Introduction:
My subject this morning is The Sevenfold Purpose of God. We
believe according to the Scriptures that the Lord our God is a God of purpose,
absolute and unalterable purpose. Before the world began, Almighty God
sovereignly purposed all that ever comes to pass. Noting in this world is left
to chance. Everything is moving toward the predetermined end of God’s eternal
purpose with absolute, precise accuracy.
Proposition:
This is what I am saying - Everything
that comes to pass in time was purposed by God in eternity.
Now let’s look into the Scriptures to
see if this is so. The Word of God must determine the issue. “To the law and to the testimony: if they
speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them.”
Romans
8:28: “We know that all things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his
purpose.”
Romans
9:11: Here Paul tell us
that God chose Jacob in everlasting love and rejected Esau in everlasting
hatred and that he revealed this fact to the boys’ parents, “that the purpose of God according to
election might stand.”
Ephesians
1:11: “In whom also we have obtained an
inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will.”
Ephesians
3:11: Paul explains here
that he preached the gospel to the Gentiles, even the unsearchable riches of
Christ, that the manifold wisdom of God in the gospel might be made known unto
all men, “according to the eternal
purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
2
Timothy 1:9 - “God hath saved us, and called us with an
holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and
grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.”
These five texts which we have read from the Word of God
himself tell us five distinct facts about the purpose of God.
1.
The purpose of
God is eternal.
2.
The purpose of
God includes all things.
3.
The purpose of
God has the benefit of God’s elect for its particular design.
Everything that God has purposed
is for the ultimate, spiritual, and eternal benefit of his covenant people.
1.
The purpose of
God is immutable and sure.
God says, “My counsel shall stand, and I will do all
my pleasure” (Isa. 46:10). “What God does, he has always purposed to do”
(A. H. Strong).
2.
And in its
ultimate end God’s purpose will accomplish the eternal salvation of his people
and the glory of his own great name.
Now, today, I want to show you The Sevenfold Purpose of God. I have
searched the Scriptures and found seven things which God purposed, seven things
which must come to pass. We are going to look at several passages of Scripture;
and the key word in each text is the word “must”. These seven things must, of a
certainty, come to pass. These things must come to pass, because God has
purposed them.
I. This is the matter of first importance, so we will look at
this first - THE SON OF MAN MUST SUFFER
AND DIE UPON THE CROSS (Lk. 9:22).
The death of our Lord Jesus Christ was
no accident. It was not something which came to pass as the result of man’s
free-will, or because the Jews would not have him as their King. The Lord Jesus
Christ MUST die at Calvary. He said
so, “The Son of Man must suffer many
things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be
slain, and be raised the third day.”
Why must the Lord Jesus Christ suffer and die upon the
cursed tree? Why must the Son of God lay down his life?
A. Christ hat to
die at Jerusalem, because God had purposed it. “Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have
crucified and slain” (Acts 2:23;
4:28).
B. Christ had to
die at Jerusalem in order to fulfill his covenant engagements as our
everlasting Surety.
Our Lord voluntarily took upon
himself our redemption, and he freely laid down his life for us. But having
voluntarily agreed to be our Surety, he had to lay down his life for us. His
honor and faithfulness demanded it (Gen. 43:8-9; John 10:18; Acts 13:29).
A. Christ had to
die in the place of his people so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled (Isa. 53; Psa. 22).
B. It was
absolutely necessary for the Lord Jesus Christ to die at Calvary, in order for
God to save his people (Rom. 3:24-26;
John 3:14-17).
Only through the death of the God-man
in the place of his people could -
1.
The
righteousness of God be revealed.
2.
The sin of man
be exposed.
3.
The justice of
God be satisfied.
4.
The people of
God be forgiven.
5.
The love of
God be manifest.
II. But, the death of Christ, in itself, is not sufficient to save
us. IN ORDER TO SAVE US, THE LORD JESUS
CHRIST MUST RISE FROM THE DEAD (John 20:9).
“He
must first rise again from the dead.” “He was raised again for our
justification.”
A dead Christ would never have been of any value to God or
to his people. But when the Lord Jesus Christ arose from the dead the
foundation of our faith was fixed.
A. In his
resurrection, it is evidently revealed that Christ is the Son of God.
B. The
resurrection of Christ assures us that sin is put away and justice is
satisfied.
C. The resurrection
of Christ is sure evidence of his power and ability to save all who come to God
by him (Heb. 7:25; Rom.
8:31-34).
III. Here is the third thing that must come to pass, because God
has purposed it - THE GOSPEL OF THE
GRACE OF GOD MUST BE PREACHED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE WORLD (Mk. 13:10).
“And
the gospel must first be published among all nations.” Here we are told
that prior to the second advent of our Lord Jesus Christ the gospel of his
grace must be heralded throughout the world.
·
To declare to
all men the mercy of God.
·
For the
salvation of God’s elect in every nation.
·
To leave the
unbelieving without excuse.
IV. Fourthly, when this gospel has been declared throughout the
whole world and before our Lord comes again - ALL OF GOD’S ELECT MUST BE SAVED (John 10:16).
God is longsuffering with this world
and allows it to stand only because he has in it a people whom he is determined
to save - “Other sheep I have which are
not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and
there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.”
NOTE: All of God’s elect shall be saved. Not one of Christ’s sheep
shall ever perish.
·
The purpose of
God demands it.
·
The law of God
demands it.
·
The
satisfaction of Christ demands it.
A. Christ must
come seeking his lost sheep (John
4:4).
B. Before any can
enter into the kingdom of heaven, they must be born again (John 3:3-8).
C. They all must
come to God through Christ, believing that he is, and that he is the rewarder
of them that diligently seek him (Heb.
11:6).
D. Their wills
must be broken by almighty grace (John
3:30).
E. They all must
learn to worship the Lord God (John
4:23-24).
V. Here is the fifth thing which must be done - THE LORD JESUS CHRIST MUST REIGN AS KING (1
Cor. 15:25).
“He
must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.”
Beloved, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the sovereign
Ruler and King of this universe. You must bow to him as Lord, or you must
perish.
A. He must reign
for the salvation of his people (John
17:1-3).
B. He must reign
because he earned the right (Phil.
2:9-11).
C. He must reign because none shall stop him.
VI. Again, THE LORD JESUS
CHRIST MUST COME AGAIN IN POWER AND GREAT GLORY (1 Cor. 15:51-55). These
bodies must be raised.
Once all of God’s elect have been
saved and all the purposes of God in this world have been accomplished, the
Lord himself shall come, and every eye shall see him.
·
He must come
to raise his saints.
·
He must come
to destroy his enemies.
·
He must come
to create all things now.
·
He must come
to reign gloriously.
VII. And, in the last place, I know that, according to the
eternal purpose of God - EVERY PERSON
MUST STAND BEFORE THE LORD JESUS CHRIST IN JUDGMENT (2 Cor. 5:10).
“For
we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that everyone may
receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it
be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.”
When everything which God has purposed is done, you are
going to meet God in the judgment. How will you fair in the judgment?
Application:
1.
Children of
God, take comfort in this - The purpose of God shall stand. He shall do all his
pleasure.
2.
Rebel - You
must surrender to Christ! You must bow! You must believe! Or you must perish! 1
Cor. 1525-28).