The Ultimate Answer to the Ultimate Question

Well, I have a question for you. Many have talked about life's big questions. What are the great questions of life? Do you have one? The world, do they have a great question in life? To me and to the world as a whole, there is a question. It's called life's big question.

Who am I and what am I doing here? Why am I here? Maybe you've had that question. If you've never had that question, perhaps other people might. And if someone asks you, why am I here? And who am I? Where would you turn? Where would you turn to teach people? Because we are trained to be teachers. By examples, we're just naturally teachers. They see us and that's how they're supposed to act and conduct their lives.

So I want to give you today a very simple message because quite a few people during the last year just in the United States committed suicide. Our sad part is for everyone that succeeded, there were two or three that didn't succeed, but they still tried. The world does not have a lot of hope. This is a day about hope. And I wanted to cover something so that you hopefully can give someone the ultimate answer to the ultimate question of who they are and what they're doing here and why they were put on earth.

Because once you're able to answer that question, it gives you a goal. It gives you a purpose in life. And many young people will have that question. In one of our counseling classes I had, we talked about young people. And although many people have over time been despondent and threatened suicide, this group of young people, the new young people today, as they're called millennials, over 50% that say they thought about committing suicide actually will do it.

So it is something that we need to take seriously, whether it is sons, whether it is grandsons, granddaughters, whatever. And a lot of it comes back to the, I don't know why I'm here, I don't know why I'm here. I don't know what life has for me. They give up. They do not have any hope. And if nothing else when you walk out of here today, I hope you will just put a mark in your Bible or just remember one place in the Bible which lays it all out for you.

Because you can give a whole message, and I've given them before, and you can go to this scripture and this scripture, but there's one place that gives us the beginning, even before the beginning, the beginning and the end in one verse. I want you to write that verse down, if you will. Trace, try to remember it. It's Romans 8 and verse 30. Romans 8 and verse 30. The ultimate answer to the ultimate question that most people do not have, and sad to say, so many people even in God's church forget or they get thrown off course. And life can do that to you. It can become very depressing sometimes when life catches up with you or Satan decides to throw you a roadblock and try to get your attention off your destiny.

It's very important. So the ultimate answer to the ultimate question is why you're here. I'd like you to turn to Romans, if you will. Romans 8 and we'll go to start in verse 28 and end up at 30. I would like to advise you to go ahead and read the entire eighth chapter of Romans. I know before anyone's baptized, I asked them to read that. I have two probably well-baptized Saturday in Kingston, Jamaica, and others I will be counseling.

And this is one of the things I ask you to do, to have a full grasp for what you're doing, is to read John 4-8 and Romans 4-8. Those eight chapters tell you about everything you need to know about the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and why we are here.

But the eighth chapter is such an inspiring. I usually read it every feast of tabernacles because it has such a powerful in one chapter that Paul goes and tells the Romans because I don't think they got the full picture. You have to realize that when he wrote this to the church at Rome, they were living in the big city of Rome.

They had everything modern. It would be like New York City today. It was a fast-moving city and it was a moral city. But it was a law, a city of laws.

And everybody kept the Roman laws. And so Paul was trying to inspire people to keep God's law and get their focus on that besides the Roman law. So in Romans 8 and verse 28, he says, And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God.

You've heard that one a few times. I've probably used it a few times.

I have needed it because I look at some curves that have been thrown in my life, my life and other people's lives and go, boy, I hope this is for good.

And as one of my mentors said, I hope this is a trial, not the preparation for the trial.

Because we sometimes get into things or, whoo!

But it says, and we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. You're not here by fiat.

And then verse 29 says, For whom he foreknew. That's one of five words. So I'm going to just give you five words today, which lay out through these scriptures, five words that tell you or can tell the world their destiny. So the first one is foreknew. For he foreknew.

For whom he foreknew. This is talking about God. Did he foreknow you?

Hmm.

He also predestined to become conformed to the image of his Son. How good a job have we done this year being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ? Hopefully we're better than we were last year. And hopefully we'll be better next year than we are this year. That's why we say, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Conversion is a lifelong process.

Matter of fact, even when you die, probably a day before you'll die, you'll probably still be working on your spiritual life. That he may be the firstborn among many brethren, talking about Jesus Christ. And we're part of that brethren. And then we come to the verse that messages all about. Because here Paul is actually talking about those who came before.

Because he's talking in a past tense. So he's talking about those who have walked. The walk.

And those who God has called. And those who will be in his kingdom. And those who will be glorified. So I'd like to read that now. Moreover, whom he predestined. Were you predestined?

These he also called. Have you been called? Are you sure? Have you answered the call?

And whom he called, he also justified. Are you justified? Have you been justified?

And finally, those he justified, he glorified.

So we actually have five words. Four new, predestined, called, justified, and glorified.

It's the destiny before all of us called ones.

So I'd like you to remember this verse. It's simple. Romans 8.3 tells you what we are put here on earth and our destiny to do.

Now, when I looked up the Greek and the four new, they didn't really shed a lot of light on things. The word actually meant to know beforehand. Okay, that was no revelation to me. To know beforehand.

But then I had to think, boy, is that why he wrote to Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1 verse 5?

Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Okay, Jeremiah is one of these that he's talked about here.

That word, four new, predestined, called, justified, and glorified. He will be glorified when he is resurrected.

Four new. Now, before people say, well, wait a minute, you're talking of being four known and then predestined.

Do we really have a choice in this? For that, of course, you would always turn back to the way God's always done things in Deuteronomy 30 in verse 19. I said before you choose. Yes. Life and death. You choose. He doesn't force us to do anything. But the one thing he does do, boy, does he sometimes put a carrot out there. And, you know, sometimes he puts that carrot out. I told you here. But, you know, as many carrots as I've seen, I've also seen a kind of a stick.

I think he's pushed me, pushed me a little bit so that I can say, okay, this would be a better decision. Four new. Isn't that a powerful thought? When someone asked me the question about this, well, between four new and predestined, what's the difference? I said, well, when he four-knew you, he knew you before you were even born.

And thankfully, you weren't a boy.

In some cases, it may have taken a miracle by hand.

But it said that predestined, hmm, predestined.

Predestined for what? Predestined that you would be called.

Okay? And the only thing I can, I've had a really good explanation on this is, is to be predestined.

And God has a government that will be ruling the universe soon.

And if I can put this, because I really don't want to put it in terms so you think it's like a job, but it's like God as a company. And he knows exactly what this company is going to look like a thousand, twelve hundred years from now.

And he knows what it's going to take for this government to run perfectly.

And it's going to take certain people to fill those jobs.

It's just like the government we have here today. They don't do a very good job, as most of you know.

But what is interesting is there are job titles. There are certain jobs that have to be filled, or otherwise we wouldn't be running up and down the road. We wouldn't have protection. We wouldn't have all these things. And I'm thankful for the government we have, because in other countries it's far worse for those who've traveled in other countries. But there are certain positions that have to be filled. In God's government, in Isaiah 9, verse 2, it says, of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end. This is a long-term gig, I can tell you. You're going to be there a while. And you're going to love. It's going to be the best job you've ever had in your life. And it's going to last forever. And it will continue on. You're going to love it.

You're going to have the best boss you've ever had in your life. You're going to have one that loves you and cares for you. And everybody you work with is going to be ideal, and void. But predestined. Because Jesus Christ even said, in my Father's house are many, as he says, mansions, many jobs. If it were not so, I would not have told you so. He has looked down because God is all-knowing, so powerful. He's looked down and said, there's this job, and there's this job, and there's this job, and somebody's going to need to be doing this. See, He knows all the jobs that need to be filled. Every one of them. I don't know whether there are millions, or whether there's just a few thousand, a hundred thousands, I don't know. But He does, so I don't have to. I just know there's a position, there's a office there that needs to be filled. And God, in His ultimate wisdom and sovereignty, all-knowing mind, knows that there's certain people, because He knows your genetics. He knows our hearts. He knows all these things, because of who we came from, our families. And He has shown through history, He's looked down through the ages and said, okay, this one can fill this position. This one can fill this position. Now, how many times those people, He had to change the people, because the people didn't follow through? I don't know. We all know that one day.

But wouldn't you think, as we even talked about during lunch, wouldn't you think that God in His ultimate wisdom, you know, it'd be a lot less work if I just called like some really smart and great, rich, and just had everything people did?

But if He did, what would happen?

Chances are they couldn't handle it.

So He said that I'm going to call what? The weak and the base. So that no flesh should glory. That no flesh could glory, because what they become, what you and I become, is not because of what we are, because of what God is doing in us, this work that's been done in us. And so He's going to show this example many years and hundreds of years and even a thousand years from now and say, see, you see that person? Do you see Cecilia?

She did not get here because of what she did. She got here because of what I did with her. And she followed that lead that I wanted to give you. That's why I gave her the Holy Spirit. Just help her!

Predestined. Predestined. When you think about being predestined, it's the actual Greek word was determined before. Determined before, which is pretty simple. So it's determined before who He would call. We can see that example even in John the Baptist, can't we? Remember John the Baptist when he was inside his mother's womb? And he had the Spirit and even then the Spirit was guiding him that it knew when it came in contact with the impregnated Mary. And the baby jumped because there was this connection. When you think about Jeremiah, predestined, I knew you before I formed you in the womb. Why did you say that? Because Jeremiah's going, why are you calling me? I'm just this kid. I'm a I'm a kid. I'm a 16-17 year old kid and you're telling me to go do this great work. Who am I? And he said, oh no. Jeremiah, I knew you before you were even born. I knew the DNA. I knew everything that you could be. And now you are becoming that. When you even look at the Bible, critics are amazed that Alexander the Great was even talked about 300 years before he existed.

That even Josiah was predicted 400 years before he was even born.

Predestined.

What about Samson? Hmm.

Samson was talked about. Now, did God necessarily want him doing everything he did? No, but he had he had a choice. He had choices there and he liked what? He liked women.

See, he had these. He was driven by his eyes.

And he was also a judge. Can you think about that? He was a judge for all of Israel for 20 years.

From age 30 to about age 50. With his problems, we think we have some bad judges.

Did God want him acting that way? No.

Did he still? Because he was predestined. Did God use him? Absolutely. We say, I did. If you want to act this way, then I'll get you to stir up the Philistines so that the people will decide, oh, no, we don't need to be living like this. Can't endure this. Did Samson come around?

He appears in the 11th chapter of Hebrews, doesn't he? The faith chapter. The ones that lays out the people we know will be in God's Kingdom. But it's amazing, and I think I've said this before, that God had to take away his eyes before he could finally see God. Because when he left him his physical eyes, what did he see?

Whatever he wanted. And he just not only lusted for women, he lusted for food, he lusted for everything. He wanted, he just went out and got. And he used his strength to hit it.

And he was a bit of a show-off.

He loved playing games, as he did with telling him riddle, as you all remember, right? Told his riddle to get this. Well, you may know even some guys today who a lot of athletes will never grow up. They'll play sports all their lives. Even when they're 40 and 50, they're still playing games. They never really mature. Emotionally, mentally. This was Samson. Remember when he loved to play such games that any other man in his right mind would have known after a woman told him how many times, I need to know what your source of your strength is. And he goes and tells her something else. She goes and does it. He either had to be awfully stupid or he just he was playing games, which he probably was. Playing games.

Love to show off, also. If you remember the time he was trapped in the city and this huge city had gates, and according to historians, the wooden gates at that time that they had going into the city weighed about 4,000 pounds.

So he decides one night to not only just escape and leave the city, take the gates off the hinges, but he actually picks against the gates, puts them on his back, and carries them two miles and leaves them on top of a hill.

It was a game to him, wasn't it?

And God wanted him to really become all he wanted him to to do and become in this life. And so the only way he could do it is to remove and blind him. Blind him physically, so that finally he could see God. And it took walking behind a cow or a mule or whatever he was grinding grain at for two years.

He really came down, didn't he? You can imagine here is a man that was just revered anywhere he walked, anywhere he went.

You killed a thousand men with the jawbone of a donkey. Can you imagine? And now he's reduced to he has just a normal man's strength, and he has no eyes. And here he is standing, walking through cow dung all day long, every day, every day, fed like a cow.

God needed to get his attention.

God got it. He was predestined and he was called. But it took a lot for him to be justified. Took a lot of trials. For some of us, it's taken big trials. But, you know, it's amazing when you look at the story about being predestined. Even Paul was predestined. But what did it take for Paul?

He, too, was blinded before he came to really know God. There's no need in anybody being blinded, brother.

We need to make sure we keep our spiritual eyes on God. So he doesn't have to make us try to fulfill our destiny by him forcing us. You know, it's a lot easier to follow a carrot than to be driven with a stick. Okay? We all need... we've been given a carrot. We've been given a picture of... the carrot is a picture of our destiny and all the blessings and having a relationship with God and knowing he's in. Like Janae brought up today, God's real estate, or God's realtor. You know, you need to sell a house. You can pick them as realtor in the world. Okay? You got other things you need wisdom. Boy, how do I make these decisions? He even tells you in the book, what? Ask for it. He will give to all liberally. Oh, and boy, I have to use that all the time. Sometimes two or three times a day, but I sure put it in every prayer every day before I need some... Yeah, all I'm doing is what he's telling me. I'd rather have the carrot than the stick. Okay?

You know, it's a lot easier when I was on a farm and we need to move the cattle somewhat, is to get a bucket of grain, shake it, and let them follow me. Then it sure was to try to take a stick and drive them, which I'd go this way, this way, and this way.

Predestined. Predestined. I'd like you to turn to one Scripture. Ephesians 1. To me, this is a very inspiring Scripture. Ephesians 1.

Verse 4 and 5. So just as he chose us in him before the foundations of the world, how old is that? How many millions of years is that? He chose us before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him in what?

What? Agape. It goes back to this morning's message. Agape. He chose us in love because he loves us that much. That's why it's done, not because, boy, that's a smart cookie over there. I'm gonna make sure I get them. He does it out of love. And it says in verse 5, having predestinated us to, and the word is adoption, but it should be sonship, as sons by Jesus Christ himself, according to his good pleasure of his will to the praise of the glory of grace by which he has made us accepted in the beloved. But predestined to the praise of the glory of his grace, his divine favor. That's what it's all about. It's predestined. I mean, it should make you feel... it should make you feel like, oh, I'm superior. Look, I'm predestined. Look at me. No. It should be mean. This is an honor. Man, I can't believe all the people in the world. No, he's going to call the rest of the people of the world later on, each in his own order, as he even says about resurrections, but each in its own time and order. But it's going to be easier for most people to make it later, to be called later.

Because once he calls you, you get one shot. You don't get all these shots. Oh, well, now I'll just go back and live as I want to live, and then, oh, maybe just before I die, I'll have a deathbed confession. It doesn't work that way. But these unique, predestined people, he says, you got a shot. There's something in you, and I knew you. I knew what it was before the foundation of the world. I knew you were going to be here. Well, how does he know that? Well, he's God, and you're not. And I'm not, but that's good enough for me. So, he knows. Are you special?

People say, no, not really. You are, because he calls you. And that's the only reason you're special. That's the only reason. Is God sees something in you that you may never see to your change? But he knows it's there, and that's all that matters. Predestined. It's mentioned many times.

Then we come to the word called. Called. And the Greek word actually means a bid to bid.

To bid to call forth. Something called forth. Just like, I bid him, I bid you to come here. Come here, come here, come forth.

So, it's interesting because he calls a week in base, but here he's given us a word that tells us that we're invited. It's an invitation. It's a divine invitation to follow him. To be called by him. To be guided by him. To follow the carrot. I'm gonna stick a carrot out here then.

And many of us have walked this way of life for a long time, realizes as we look back in our life, boy, I could have gone up there. Boy, I might have taken this fast, but you realize, oh, why the hell did I take this over here? It must have been God. It had to have been God. Because I would have messed up big time. But you were called. Called. How amazing is it? I guess that's why Matthew 22 says, many are called. 22, 14. Many are called, but few are chosen.

See, many are given the carrot because he's got all these positions and he's got about 6,000 years to do it. And if you look through the Old Testament, you start reading, you realize that not many, not many men followed the carrot. Okay, you got Enoch, you got Seth and Enoch.

And you got Noah, boy, and you've already covered 1,600 years. And a lot of people, but that carrot, nobody really. And so, he says, many are called. Called. Called for it. Given a chance to, to, to for God to say, hey, come, come, come, come. Follow. When did you realize you were called?

Was it when you were young? Some of us look back now and go, boy, you know, I realize God is working with me a lot back when I was a teenager.

I just didn't know it then, but I look back now and see that's where you see God's, God's divine invitation. And for some reason, thankfully, you followed it.

For many of us, it came a little bit later, but He was still working with us. But He called a little bit later. Why did He call us at the time He called us? Because it was best time. He knew when it was time.

Like you turn to one scripture. One scripture about called. Second Timothy.

Second Timothy. One verse eight. Second Timothy. One verse eight. Said, Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings of the gospel according to the power of God. Is there going to be some suffering? Yes, there is. Nothing that you can't handle. Is there going to be some road you want you have to go down? Sometimes you don't really like. Yes, but that's all right. But then He says in verse nine, about the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ before time began. It goes all the way back, even the calling. It goes back to the fore knew and the predestined and then this calling. It's a holy calling. And sad to say, I've known people in the past who didn't feel like after a few years it was very holy. It was just a calling and they let it slip and they let it slide. They no longer walk that way and some of them have passed on. But I'm not their judge.

But I know I could not do that because of what I know.

So we have fore knew, we have predestined, we have justified, and then we just talked about called. And now, while we're talking about call, I need to talk about justified. Okay? What does justified mean?

Made right with God. Okay? That's what it means. Justified. Made right with God. There are all kinds of scriptures for justified.

All through the Bible you can look it up in the gourds, you can look it up. See, I just want to turn to one. In Romans, because we look at Romans 8, in Romans 3, he touches on this. In Romans 3, verse 20, it says, therefore, by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in its sight. For by the law is the knowledge of sin. In verse 24, verse 23 says, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Being justified freely by His, what? Grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. In verse 28 says, therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. Justification is being made right. Being made right with God. You're justified to come before. And we can only be justified by the blood and life and death of Jesus Christ. That's how we're justified. We're made right with God, not by what we do, but by His grace. And we accept that incredible pardon that He gives us.

That's being justified. And that's where we are right now. Do you realize that? We're justified. Okay, we've been born new. That's out of our hands. Predestined, really, out of our hands. Right? He calls us. We can do something about that. We make the choice whether we want to follow that carrot or not. How many of us get a carrot every day in the Bible, where God goes, Come on, I'd like you to read this. How many of you just picked up a Bible, so I really am tired. Don't really have time. You open up the Bible, and you just turn and you just open it up, and all of a sudden you're reading something, and you're over there. That's just what I needed. It may not be what you needed, but it's exactly what he wanted you to do. Because you're called. He's calling you to this way of life. He's calling you. He's calling you, and he's called you to follow that carrot. You follow the carrot, and finally you're justified. You realize that you need God in your life, and it's going to be forever. And you give yourself over to a different way of life. You become a new person, just like those that I will baptize on Saturday. They're going to go down, we're going to bury them in the water, they're going to come up, a new person. And from that time on, it's not going to be, well, what I want to do, well, what does God want me to do? Because I accept the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. I'm justified now because it's only Christ that can make us right with God, and He does. The other amazing part is that's all we have to do. Okay? We have to stay right with God and please God. So no matter works will ever save you. That's what the book says.

But what do you do when you want to please your father?

Obey. Obey. Obey. I want to please Him. I want to please God every day. I get tired, I don't know about you, I get tired of having to call upon the sacrifice of Jesus Christ quite a bit in my life because my shortcoming. So I want to please my dad. I want to please my father. And so I'm going to go and do the things that live because I said I'd be justified because I'm going to have Jesus Christ living in me. I'm going to be dwelt. I ate that bread, I drink that cup, I have Jesus Christ in me. And I want to live like Him so that I can make my dad and my older brother proud of me that I'm following along in the family tradition.

Justified, being made right with God.

And finally, there's glorified. We all want to be glorified, don't we? Do we know what it means? It's actually doxada, dox, glory is doxa, and glorified is doxazo. Doxazo, if I remember that. But glory, the Greek word, actually means to praise, to render glorious is what glorified means.

Worthy of praise, full of glory, honor, and to magnify.

And the other that I've given here before, it actually means to worship.

And that when we are glorified, like it or not, you will be worshiped. At a time I end, because you will become, as 1 John 3 says, you will become as God, like God, always under Him. But glorified, just like Jesus Christ, that's the whole purpose of the Transfiguration, was to show what Moses, Elijah, and Jesus Christ looked like. They were glorified. To show us, because that's what we're going to look like in His kingdom. That was the whole purpose of the trip up the mountain.

God wants us to understand, let's be, I am going to glorify you. I foreknew you before you even, your parents, before your parents even knew you, before your great-great-grandparents even thought about having their child. And then, when you were about to, when you arrived, I predestined you to have a chance to understand.

Not to predestined you to salvation, as so many teach, because God gives choices. For you more age, otherwise just make Adam and Eve. Why even go through all that stuff? But He gives us choices, because He sees character being built. Godly character. And He knows that's what it takes. So He foreknew you, and then He predestined you. And then He called you. And then, once He called you, you answered the call. You became justified. And then, something that's totally out of our hands, the last step, you will be glorified. And that's what this day pictures. A day when the mortal will become immortal. When you will live forever, with the glory, the power, and the honor, and the majesty of God the Father. That's why He calls us sons and daughters.

This is the entire purpose of man, all in one verse. Romans 8 and verse 30. That's all we need to know. It's easy to explain. It's easy to see. It's easy for you to be able to show other people. This is why you're put here on earth. Because it's not to stay the way you are. It's to eventually, your destiny is to be glorified.

Do we want it? Do we want it enough?

We've been called. We've been justified. We need to endure to the end. We need to hang in there. We need to overcome these trials.

Join each other hand in hand, both physically and spiritually, to help each other with the love of God. Because the next step for us is to be glorified. God speed that day.