Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church,
located at 905 Yadkin Street in Kingsport, Tennessee, would
like to invite you to listen to a message of sovereign grace
by their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. And now, Pastor Gabe Stoniker. I invite you to turn with me
in your Bible to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8, and I want
to read two verses, verses 29 and 30. They say, 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. Moreover,
whom He did predestinate, them He also called, and whom He called
them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified."
I want to use these two verses to answer a question, a question that I believe is
a very vital question. When is a sinner saved? When is a sinner saved? That is a question that religions
are built on. And I use the word religions
in a bad way. When is a sinner saved? If God chooses to save a sinner,
when is that sinner saved? Well, look with me over at Romans
chapter 10. Romans 10 verse 9 says, If thou
shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe
in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou
shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation. He said, And he said, unto. And those words mean in the future. Thou shalt be saved. Paul and
Silas told the Philippian jailer, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. But Revelation 17, that was Romans
10, Revelation 17 verse 8 says, They that dwell on the earth
shall wonder whose names were not written in the book of life
from the foundation of the world." The foundation of the world.
Revelation 13 verse 8 calls Christ the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. Now because of this, some people
say a sinner can't be saved until he confesses Christ. He can't
be saved until he believes on the Lord Jesus Christ. But other
people say every sinner God chose to save was saved from the foundation
of the world. Well, which is it? Which one
is right? Here's the answer. Whichever
one God said is right. Whichever one God said, that's
the right one. But God said them both. We just
read it. Well, then both of them are right. Whatever God says is right. Let God be true and every man
a liar. Now our text this morning is
going to very simply answer this question for us. When is a sinner
saved? Back over to Romans 8 verse 29
says, For whom He did for know. For know. Before God created
man. Before He created this world. Before He spoke anything into
existence. Before any of the angels or the
heavenly beings, anything. God knew His people. And God
loved His people. Over in Jeremiah chapter 31,
Jeremiah 31 verse 3 says, The LORD hath appeared of old unto
me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore with lovingkindness
have I drawn thee. An everlasting love, he said.
No beginning, no end. Everlasting. No condition. An unconditional love. He knows everything about every
single one of his people. He knew the end from the beginning.
He told Adam, in that day that you eat that fruit, thou shalt
surely die. He knew exactly what day that
was gonna be. He knew he was gonna eat the
fruit. So therefore, before anything was ever made, before any man
was ever made, before any sin was ever committed, God made
a promise to the ones He loved. Over in 2 Samuel chapter 23,
verse 1 says, Now these be the last words of David. David the
son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the
anointed of the God of Jacob and the sweet psalmist of Israel.
David said, down in verse five, he said, although my house be
not so with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant. An everlasting covenant. ordered in all things and sure,
for this is all my salvation and all my desire, although he
make it not to grow. Before anything, back in the
depths of eternity, God made a covenant for the ones he loved. God said, greater love hath no
man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend. Christ became the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. Known unto God were all his works
from the beginning. He said, I have spoken it, I
will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it, I will also
do it. That answers our question right
there. I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass. I have
purposed it, I will also do it. All of God's purpose has been
ordered and sure since the foundation of the world. He said, I am the
Lord, I change not. Therefore, every sinner that
he loves has been saved since the foundation of the world.
If he said it, it's as good as done. If he purposes a thing,
then it's finished because he does not change. So all of his people were saved.
Saved, ordered and sure saved from the foundation of the world.
Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1 verse 2, elect according to the foreknowledge
of God. Eternally saved before the foundation
of the world. But look in our text, back in
Romans chapter 8, verse 29 says, 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." What does that
mean? He also did predestinate. Predestinate means to determine
beforehand. It means to pre-limit, and I'll
give you an illustration of this. Sometimes we take our kids to
the bowling alley, and we want them to have a good time. We
don't want them to be frustrated, and it's difficult to learn how
to bowl, especially if you're small. So to help them out a
little bit, we put up gutter guards. so that there's no way that ball
is gonna end up in the gutter and not hit any pins. We pre-limit. We determine beforehand that
ball is going to hit something. Well, why would God do that for
us? Why would he pre-limit, pre-destinate
us? Why would he do that? Verse 29
in Romans 8 says, to be conformed to the image
of His Son. Predestination is what leads
God's loved ones straight to the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Verse 29 says, "...that
He might be the firstborn among many brethren." What does that
mean, Christ is the firstborn? Well, Colossians chapter 1 verse
18 says, And he is the head of the body, the church, who is
the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things
he might have the preeminence. That means he might be first.
He is first, the firstborn from the dead. Why did Jesus Christ
die? If everything was ordered and
sure from the foundation of the world, if it was as good as done,
why did Jesus Christ die? If God's people were saved from
the foundation of the world, why did Jesus Christ die? It's because He had to. He must. Matthew 16 verse 21
says, From that time forth, Jesus began
to show unto His disciples how that He must go unto Jerusalem,
and suffer many things of the elders, and chief priests, and
scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. He must. John 3 verse 14 says,
As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, Even so must
the Son of Man be lifted up. Why? It's because this covenant is
built on it. The covenant is built on it. There's an everlasting covenant.
And that covenant was built on this. Without His death, there
is no covenant. When were God's elect sinners
saved? The answer is when Jesus Christ
died on that cross. That's when God's people were
saved. Well, I thought you just said
it was before the foundation of the world. I did. God's people were saved in eternity. God's people were saved in Christ's
blood. They were saved as soon as that
blood was spilled. As soon as God's wrath came down
on Christ, that's when they were saved. But go with me back over
to Romans 8 and look at verse 30. It says, moreover, whom he
did predestinate, them he also called. That means He notified them. Called means commanded. It means to bid to come. Every sinner that God loves,
whom He did foreknow and whom He did predestinate, them He
also called. He called them. Every single
one of them. Every single one. If He foreknew
them, and if He predestinated them, then He called them. Called them to what? A knowledge of who He is. That's what He calls them to.
A knowledge of what we really are, sinners. Man does not really
know what he is until God opens his eyes. He will never know the depth
of his sin until God calls him into the light. God's elect are called to a knowledge
of what Jesus Christ has done. Done. Not wants to do. Not is trying to do. Done. It's a call to believe the truth,
that's what it is. And that call goes to every single
sinner that God chose to save, every single one. 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 13 says,
but we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren
beloved of the Lord. Because God hath from the beginning
chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit
and belief of the truth, whereunto He called you by our gospel to
the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Belief
of the truth. What is the truth? Christ said,
I am the truth. I'm the truth. In John chapter 3 verse 36 says,
He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. And he
that believeth not the Son shall not see life. but the wrath of
God abideth on him. When is a sinner saved? The answer is when God sends
the faith of Christ to that sinner's heart and causes that sinner
to believe. Causes that sinner to cry out
for mercy. causes that sinner to come. That call is a bid to come. When that sinner comes to the
Lord Jesus Christ, that sinner is saved. Saved. Does the sinner play a role then
in that work? The answer is no. All of the
glory goes to God. Well, he came. Yes, he did. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, but the only reason is because the Father's
drawing them. No man can come except the Father
which has sent me draw him. Draw him. This work is start
to finish, the work of God alone. All of the choosing was of God.
For knowledge, all of the predestinating love was of God. This call, this
awakening, this ability to come, it's of God. And a person that
might hear this and say, how can it be this way if it's that
way? I don't understand this. How can it be from the foundation
of the world or how can it be when Christ died if it's when
a sinner believes? How? I don't understand this. Well this gospel is a mystery.
That's what this scripture says all through it. It says this
is the mystery of godliness. The mystery of the gospel. And we are not called to understand
it all. We are just not called to understand
it all. We are called to believe it all. We're not called to believe just
the parts we can understand. We're not called to believe just
the parts we want to believe and match up with the doctrine
that we want to hold to. We are called to believe it all. And if my doctrine does not coincide
with what Christ says, then I need to change my doctrine. I'm called
to believe it all. All. In Webster's Dictionary,
faith means unquestioning belief. unquestioning belief. Our Lord said in Mark 10 verse
15, "...whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little
child, he shall not enter therein."
Whatever God says is right. God's elect were saved in eternity. He said they were. God's elect
were saved in the blood of Christ. He said they were. God's elect
are saved when faith is given. When the Holy Spirit comes to
a sinner and causes that sinner to come to Christ. God says they
are. That faith is a continual coming,
you know that? It is a continual coming. Lord,
I need salvation today. God's people are not looking
back at faith that at one time was given. They're looking back
to the cross. But they're not looking back
on any experience of faith they had. Lord, I need it today. I
need it today. The apostles said, Lord, increase
our faith. I need it today. I need it today. Philippians chapter 3. Verse
13 says, brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended. I
didn't do this work myself, God did it. But this one thing I
do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth
unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the
prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Lord, I come today. Lord, I need
to be justified today. Today. 1 Corinthians 6 verse 11 says,
And such were some of you, but you are washed, but you are sanctified,
but you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by
the Spirit of our God today. Today is the day of salvation. I cling to you today. Lord, save me today. today. Back over in Romans chapter 8
verse 29 says, 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. Moreover, whom He did predestinate,
them He also called, and whom He called them He also justified. And whom He justified, them He
also glorified." Our Lord told His disciples and
all of His people through His Word that He was going to prepare
a place for them. He said it to every believer.
And He said, if you see Me, ascend up. I'm going to come back. And when He comes back and takes
all of His elect to glory with Him, that is when we will truly
be saved from the sin that we live in. I live in sin today. I have sinned today, but one
day I'm going to be delivered from it. I'm going to be saved
from it physically. And 1 Thessalonians 4 verse 16
says, the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout,
with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God, and
the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive
and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds
to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with
the Lord. God's people were saved in eternity. They were. They were. If somebody says God's people
were saved from the foundation of the world, according to the
word of God, I say amen. Amen. Secured. Salvation secured. Ordered and sure. I am the Lord,
I change not. Therefore you sons of Jacob are
not consumed. They were saved in eternity.
God's people were saved in the blood of Christ. Thank God Christ
came and when He died on that cross, as He hung there crucified
for all of the people that God the Father chose to put in Him,
He said, it is finished. It is now finished. Father, I
have finished the work. God's people were saved in the
blood of Christ. If a person says Christ had to
die by the word of God, according to the word of God, I say amen. They were saved in the blood
of Christ. God's people are saved when faith is given. Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. He that
believes on the Son hath life and he that believes not on the
Son of God has not life. And if a person says that all
of God's people will hear the call of the Master and they will
turn to Him and they will cry out unto Him according to the
Word of God, I say, Amen. God's people are saved when faith
is given. They are saved daily from this
untoward generation. And God's people shall be saved,
finally, physically saved, when Christ comes back. When Christ
brings that soul to glory. Which one of those can we leave
out and still be preaching God's truth? Can you answer that for
me? Which one of the, according to
the Word of God Himself, which one of those can we leave out
and still be preaching God's truth? The answer is none of
them. Can we say salvation comes when
a sinner believes and then deny that it was secured from the
foundation of the world? No. Can we say that salvation
was secured from the foundation of the world and then deny that
a sinner is saved through faith? No. Why not? God said so, that's why. Let
God be true and let every man be a liar. God said so. In 2 Corinthians 1 verse 10 says,
who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver, in
whom we trust that He will yet deliver us. We have been saved,
He delivered us. We are being saved, and doth
deliver, and we shall be saved. We trust that He will yet deliver
us. That is the whole counsel of
God. Until next Sunday morning, may
our Lord bless His holy Word. You have been listening to a
message by Gabe Stoniker, pastor of Kingsport Sovereign Grace
Church in Kingsport, Tennessee. If you would like a copy of this
message or to hear other messages of Sovereign Grace, you can write
to our physical mailing address at 905 Yadkin Street, Kingsport,
Tennessee 37660 or log on to our website at kingsportsovereigngracechurch.com. If you would like to come and
worship with us, our service times are Sunday morning Bible
study at 10 o'clock a.m., worship at 10.45 a.m. and 6 o'clock p.m.,
Wednesday evening at 7.30 p.m. Please tune in next Sunday morning
at 8.30 for another message of God's free and sovereign grace.