GOD HAS GREAT PLANS FOR YOU

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294 - GOD HAS GREAT PLANS FOR YOU

May 16, 1965

Pastor Henry F. Kulp

Romans 8: 28, 29 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 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. 

We have been talking to you about all things, working together for good--not most things, not many, but all things. Notice, it doesn’t say all things are good, but all things work together for good. Of course, there is something to see here that is very important--you remember, that in the case of Job, God had a hedge about Job--He had to take that hedge down for the devil to get a hold on him, to be able to test him. In other words, for God to say all things work together for good to them, who love God, He has to have control of what happens to us, and He is the One Who takes each experience in life and works them together for good, and as we studied last week, He did this in the case of Job.

1/ Ephesians 6: 10 - 12 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 

Here we are to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might--we are to put on the whole armor of God that we can stand against the wiles of the devil, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers--against the rulers of the darkness of this world--against spiritual wickedness in high places. In other words, the devil fights us with demons, and we are constantly wrestling with demons. Then I want to show you something about demons that thrilled my heart when I recognized it. 

Matthew 8: 29-32. And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time? and there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding. So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine. And he said unto them, Go, And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down into the sea, and perished in the waters. 

This is a wonderful chapter--it starts out by telling us Christ healed a leper, and then He healed the Centurion’s servant, and finally He heals Peter’s wife’s mother and then just prior to the Scripture we want to study for a few moments, He stilled the waves and calmed the winds, and here we come face to face with those who are demon possessed. We read that they met Him, two possessed with demons, coming out of the tombs--they were so fierce as they were under the control of these demons that no man may pass by that way. They were afraid to go by--these men struck terror into the hearts of all who lived in that area--and then we read that the demons spoke to Jesus Christ, called Him, Jesus, Thou Son of God. These demons knew what was going to happen to them as far as being cast out of these two men, so they asked to be cast into a herd of swine that was feeding nearby, and they asked to go into the swine. You might say, why go into the swine, and as a little boy I used to wonder this--why make the swine suffer, why the people who owned the swine. But you remember, these are unclean beasts, they were not fit for food in accordance with the Mosaic Law. 

Leviticus. 11: 7. And the swine, though he divided the hoof, and be cloven footed, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you.

These were degraded Jews who sought gain by selling them to the Gentiles. Under the law they had no right to own and raise and sell swine--it was illegal in the land of Israel, and God destroyed this--He put His stamp of judgment upon it. But that is not the thing I really want you to see---I want you to see that the demons besought Him, saying, If Thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine. They couldn’t go there without permission from the Lord, and in the 32nd vs. He said unto them, Go. They could not go until He permitted them to. He has control--final control--over the devil and over demons. That is why we can say all things work together for good.

2/ Let us get an example of actually what we are talking about. Luke 22: 31 - 34. Here we read about. Luke 22: 31 - 34 And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: 32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death. And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me. 

Here we read about a man by the name of Simon Peter. This is a very thought-provoking portion of Scripture. Here we have the Lord Jesus Christ telling Peter that Satan hath desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat--in other words he wanted to put him in his sieve. But notice here what Jesus Christ said. He gave him blessed assurance. He said, I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not. The saint that is in Satan’s sieve is assured the Lord Jesus Christ is praying for him, and that his faith will not fail. Even in the midst of being in the sieve, we can say, all things work together for good. 

You remember, at this very moment, Romans 8: 34 Who is he that condemned? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. He is interceding for us, He is in Heaven praying for us even now--what Christ did for Peter He is doing for us daily--night and day. Actually, we had better look at the word, desired. It is really a stronger word than our English word, desired, it is better rendered, demanded. When we get into the devil’s sieve, he can shake us up badly, but what does he have left when it’s all through. All he has is chaff--the wheat falls through and Satan has only the chaff, so do not be afraid of the devil’s sieve. The Lord has prayed for us, and He has prayed that our faith would fail not. Remember, Peter failed sadly, yet his faith was preserved.

3/ There was a purpose in this sifting. Never forget, Simon Peter needed this sifting. He has been so boastful--Mark 14: 29 But Peter said unto him, Although all shall be offended, yet will not I. He had been so self-confident. But when he was finished, the Lord said, strengthen thy brethren. He wasn’t any strength to his brethren at this time--he was too cocky, too know-it-all, but after he went through Satan’s sieve, he was able to be the protose, the leader of the (12) twelve--on the day of Pentecost, he was the one who was able to stand up and direct things. Peter was the leader of the (12) twelve. So, therefore, he needed this sifting, this experience to get rid of the chaff in his life.

4/ If you are unsaved this morning, I think I’d better pass a warning along to you. God,  Himself will execute the final sifting of the unrighteous from the righteous. Psalms 1: 4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. It is a wise man who will acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ as his Saviour, thereby escaping the final sifting when the unsaved will be cast into hell forever.

5/ But now God has a purpose that is greater than all the other purposes. In Job’s life, he went through Satan’s sieve so that when he was finished, he would not be self-righteous, but he would accept the righteousness of God, and then for Peter because Peter was so stuck on himself, he had to learn humility, so that he could be a leader and strengthen the other eleven. We have purposes like this in our life, and we can say all things work together for good, so that we may not be proud, we may not be self-confident; we might be able to strengthen, and might be able to encourage others. Yet there is a greater purpose than all this--God has an overwhelming purpose in everything that He is doing, and it is called, “according to His purpose” that counts.

6/ We told you last week that this purpose is an eternal purpose. God has always purposed to do one thing, therefore it is called an eternal purpose, and this eternal purpose is centered in Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1: 9, 10. Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, with which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: So God has a great plan for the future, that He is to unify all things in Heaven, and on earth to center all in Him.

7/ The purpose in this age is not to have a special nation, but to have neither Jew and Gentile, but all who believe in Jesus Christ become part of this eternal purpose. This is called a mystery. The purpose of this age is a mystery. It is no longer a mystery, it is no longer a secret because it has been revealed.

8/ But to many, who claim to love the Bible, who claim to be Christians, God’s eternal purpose, God’s will, God’s mystery is still a mystery--it is still a secret. Let me show you a church that evidently did not absorb this truth. 

 

I Corinthians 2: 7, 8 Here we read, But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, (in a secret) even the hidden which God ordained before the world unto our glory. Notice, this wisdom of God, this hidden mystery was concealed, according to vs. 8 from the rulers of this world. Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 

They did not know that He was to be all-in-all, so they crucified Him, they did away with Him. The Church in Corinth, this is about as far as Paul could go with them--he couldn’t tell them more. He was only able to tell them a very meager part of the mystery, this will, this purpose of God, and in I Corinthians 3: 1, 2 And I, brethren could not speak to you as spiritual, but as carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. All they could get was the milk of the Word. How like the church today. These people were interested in sectarianism. They wanted to follow men, they didn’t want to follow God’s program. 

 9/ Romans 8: 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. 

I want you to listen to what the Bible has to say about predestination. This is a touchy subject with many folks. Many just ignore it because they say it is too hard to understand, and many people run wild with it--but I want you to notice that predestination has to do with God’s eternal purpose in Jesus Christ. You will notice the mystery, because the mystery is part of  28th vs. ends by saying, to them, who are the called according to His purpose, for whom He did foreknow, He also did predestine to be confirmed to the image of His Son, and as you study the Bible, you will find that predestination and God’s eternal purpose are linked together, and we might add, it is also linked to the mystery, because the mystery is part of God’s eternal purpose. 

Notice, Ephesians 1: 11 In Whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestination according to the purpose of Him Who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will. 

You will notice that predestination is according to the purpose, according to God’s mystery. You can’t separate it in this day God’s eternal purpose and God’s mystery--it just cannot be done. Some people are afraid of predestination. I hope you are not afraid of it--I hope you will get over your fright, for it is in the Bible--the Word, predestination is in the Bible, and we have to face, and we should understand it. Many folks do not get the blessing because they stop right there when they come to the word, predestination. They stop and worry. 

10/ We have to recognize that predestination is built on God’s eternal purpose. It is part of God’s eternal purpose.

11/ I want to ask you, is predestination good or bad, before we really get in and study it in conjunction with God’s eternal purpose. The mystery--is it good or bad? Notice here in Romans 8: 29 For whom He did foreknow, He did predestine to do what? To be conformed to the image of His Son. Is that good or bad? Of course, that is good for us. He isn’t doing something bad for us. Predestination is something to be happy about. He has predestined us to be like His Son. How could God do any more for you? Can you think of anything that would be more glorious for God to do for you than to make you like Christ? How often I’ve heard people pray in prayer meeting--Lord, make me more like Christ--that should be the very longing of our hearts. If God waited for you to make yourself like Christ, you couldn’t do it, but God can, and this is part of His eternal purpose. Remember, His eternal purpose is centered in Jesus Christ and our part in this program is that we would be made like Christ Who is the center of the program. 

  

12/ I want you to notice that predestination does not have to do with Heaven, or with hell--you are not predestined to go to Heaven, you are not predestined to go to Hell. You are predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. Let me show you that Paul is not speaking about Heaven for He explains in I Timothy 2: 3, 4 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 

There, the will of God is that all men be saved. So, in the light of these verses, how can one say God has predestined some people to Heaven and some people to hell.

13/ The word, predestination, comes from two words. The first part is “pre”, which means before, or beforehand. The last part of the word, “destination” which means the climax--end, or the extent. The little word “pre” has to do with something beforehand, and the word, destination has to do with something at the farthest extent. So, God in predestination tells us that when we are saved, it has been decided that when the farthest extent of God’s eternal purpose comes true, we are going to be like the Lord Jesus Christ.

14/ Now, notice, Ephesians 1: 5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.

Here we are told that the climax, the end of all things is adoption, and adoption is revealed to us in Romans 8: 23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. 

So, the adoption has to do with the body--the redemption of the body. We are redeemed now, but our bodies are not redeemed, so when we are made like the Lord Jesus Christ, our bodies will be made like the Lord’s body. We will be conformed to His image.

15/ What a wonderful truth this will be when we will be like the Lord Jesus Christ. Predestination is not an awful thing, Let’s not make more of it than the Bible does.

16/ So, predestination has to do with the church. It is predestined for the church that it is going to be made like the Lord Jesus Christ, and this is glorious, not evil.

AMEN

 

REF: 05/16/1965 / 294 - GOD HAS GREAT PLANS FOR YOU / 9/30/2019