21 September 2008, 10 AM

Apostle Aje Pelser

I believe that there is a pathway to glory that God is revealing to us. It is very clear how God has made a way for us to walk on and you can read it in the following passage.

Romans 8:28-30 “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.  For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.  Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.”

My granddad used to say, “all things work together for your good to those who love God.” Even when things didn't go so well. When you read this scripture it is easy to mis-quote it. We often quote it as “ we know that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose.” It is THE called of God. It is not just for everybody. You must know that you are God's called ones. It is the called. It is a group of people that understand God's calling in their lives. It works together for your good then. You cannot say that scripture and think that it automatically applies to you. You must understand that you are THE called of God.

The word 'the' means, “kletos”- called, invited to a banquet. Didn't Jesus say the king invites people to the marriage feast? Some people don't reply to the invitation. Then they go to the highways and the byways to bring people to the wedding feast. God calls everybody to be His children, but not everybody receives an invitation to the banquet. The word also means 'to be invited to a banquet by the proclamation of the Gospel to obtain salvation in the kingdom through Christ.' Everybody is invited, but so many people refuse to reply to the invitation. When you are invited to a wedding it is just polite to reply. God has send His messengers over the ages, His evangelists, people who have laid down their lives to bring the invitation to the world, but the world rejected it. Some of you have received it. You are the called. You are the called according to His purpose.

There is so much about purpose these days. People ask what is your passion, your purpose. All these words are great, but we miss the context of that scripture. It says that you are the called according to His purpose. Find God's purpose. What is God's purpose? He wants people to be saved, to come into His kingdom. Treat your life according to His purpose and stop looking for your own. If you are a businessman you are shining your light for His purpose in the business world. When you do well, His covenant is established. Look at His purpose. Turn all your ideas, philosophies, passions and all that to His purpose, and you'll find your purpose. 

For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first among many brethren. Predestination is a problem in religious circles. Why don't we just let scripture interpret scripture and look at Ephesians 1: 7 to understand what predestination is for. Ephesians 1:4-5 “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” He has predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself. God has made a way through Jesus Christ for us to become His sons. That is the only reason for predestination. He predestined for us to become His children and we can choose to become His sons , but we can also choose to become sons of the Devil and live life according to the lusts of the flesh and go to hell. Predestination has all to do with us being predestined to adoption as sons. That is what God had in mind from the start. God wants us to be His children.

Ephesians 1:17-18 “hat the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understandingbeing enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,” We as Christians go what is the hope of my calling. But it is His calling. He is calling you. Be yourself. Everyone of us has strenghts and weaknesses. Our weaknesses are there to show us that we need a Saviour. It is there so that we can fulfil His calling. There is one calling. He wants us to live out the Word in this world. Let the Word become flesh in your life.

Romans 3:23-24 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,” Verse 23 is good to memorize and 24 is good to read. Id you stop at 23 you'll always think that you are stopping short of God's glory. If you read 24 you can enter His glory. If we read the whole Bible we'll have less deception. Wherever we go we tell people to get into the Word. The Word is our message. A good preacher should make you want to go read more and pray more.   He is someone that brings the proclamations of the King.

Those whom He predestined He called. Those whom He called He justified. We are justified freely. God's justice system depends on Jesus' work on the cross. We are justified, because Jesus paid for it with His blood. That has made us just and right with God. He has justified us freely by His grace that is the redemption through Jesus Christ.

He has also glorified us. John 17:22- “And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:” Your suffering and persecutions work for you an eternal weight of glory. What have you suffered for the Lord? Thank Him for that and embrace your suffering and enter into His glory. Look at it differently today and see how God has glorified that. You are richer for it and stronger. Your faith grows, your shield of faith grows. That growth in itself is glorious. That glory is moments of forgetfulness in God's presence. God wants to glorify all of us, but we have different moments of glory. You are on your pathway to glory. Understand the steps that you take to glory this morning.

John 17:20 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who willbelieve in Me through their word;” Write your name in the Bible to make this yours. We are believing the word of Christ through His disciples. Verse 21- 22 “that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave ME I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one.” God is entrusting you with glory in your life. When you work miracles, when you pray for the sick and they get healed, when you cast out demons, when you raise the dead, when you have faith in a time of turmoil, when you have hope in a nation that is hopeless, when you are happy and joyful when the country is depressed, it is glorious. When you believe when no one can believe any more, it is glorious. You are forgetting yourself in God's presence. When we decrease He increase