Let's turn back to Romans 8. Romans 8, and let's read verses
29 and 30. 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 that I believe
is a very vital question. A very, very vital question. And here it is. 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. Religions are built on it. When
is a sinner saved? If God chooses to save a sinner,
when is that sinner saved? Turn over to Romans 10. Verse 9 says, that 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. Shalt and unto mean in the future. That's what they mean. Paul and
Silas told the Philippian jailer, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. But turn with me over to Revelation
17. Revelation 17 verse 8 says, The
beast that thou sawest was and is not and shall ascend out of
the bottomless pit and go into perdition. And they that dwell
on the earth shall wonder whose names were not written in the
book of life from the foundation of the world. Revelation 13 verse 8 calls Christ, the end of that verse says, the
book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. From the foundation of the world.
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. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Other people say every sinner
God chose to save was saved from the foundation of the world. Right? Which one is it? Which one is it? Which one is
right? Here's the answer. Whichever
one God said is right. God said them both. We just read
it. Then both are right. Right? Whatever God says is right. Let God be true and every man
a liar. Now our text this morning is
going to answer very simply this question for us. When is a sinner
saved? Let's go back over to Romans
8. Romans 8 verse 29 says, For whom
He did 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. I want you to look at Jeremiah
31 with me. Jeremiah 31 verse 3. The Lord hath appeared of old
unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting
love. Therefore, with loving kindness
have I drawn thee. No beginning, no end, no condition. None. Unconditional love. He
knew everything about every one of his people from eternity. Every single thing. He knew the
end from the beginning. He told Adam, in the day that
you eat of that fruit. In the day. It's coming. And
in the day that you eat of that fruit, thou shalt surely die.
He knew exactly what day it was going to be. So therefore, before anything
was made, before any man was made, before any sin was ever
committed, God made a promise to the ones He loved. He made a promise to the ones
He loved. Now go with me to 2 Samuel 23. 2 Samuel 23 verse 1 says, now these
be the last words of David. Verse 5 says, although my house
be not so with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant,
ordered in all things, ensure 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. And God said, Greater love hath no man than this, that
a man lay down his life for his friend. That was the covenant. God, Father, Son, and Spirit,
knew the end from the beginning, everything, every man, every
time, every purpose. God knew Adam would sin. God
knew man would fall. God the Father is holy and just. But God the Father is merciful
and He's good. And He chose some people. And
Christ said, I'll die for those people. And God the Spirit said,
if you die for them, I'll bring them back to us. A covenant was
made. 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. All of God's purpose. Has been
ordered and sure since the foundation of the world, he said, I'm the
Lord. I change not right. Therefore, every center that
he loves has been saved since the foundation of the world saved,
eternally saved. Peter wrote, elect according
to the foreknowledge of God. Elect from the foundation of
the world. Alright, but look back at our
text in Romans 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. What does that mean? He also
did predestinate. Predestinate means to determine
beforehand. That's what it means. It means
to pre limit. If we ever take our kids bowling,
you know what we're going to do? We're going to put up the
gutter guards. And I'm going to predetermine that ball to
hit those pins. We're going to preset some limits.
That's what we're going to do. Predestinate. Why would God do
that? Verse 29 says to be conformed
to the image of his son. Brother Henry tells a story.
He went to a gas station one time and the guy behind the register
had a Bible sitting next to the register and he told him, he
said, that's a nice Bible you have there. And the guy said,
thanks. He said, I know who you are.
He said, I've seen you on TV. He said, you believe in predestination,
don't you? And brother Henry said, well, what does the Bible
say about it? Guy said, I don't know. He said,
well, let's see. So he opened his Bible and it's
in there four times, two times in Ephesians one, two times in
Romans eight. And he read it and he told him,
he said, well, predestination is what conforms a sinner into
the image of Jesus Christ. He said, you want to be like
Jesus Christ, don't you? And I said, oh, yeah, I want
to be like Christ. He said, then you believe in
predestination, too. I want to be like Christ. That's
what predestination does. It prelimits God's people to
be just like Jesus Christ. Predestination is what leads
God's loved ones straight to the Lord Jesus Christ. All of
God's loved sinners were predestinated to come to Christ. I'm going
to lead them. They're going to bounce here
and they're going to think they're all over the place, but it's
just predestinated. I love that. Why? Verse 29 says that he might
be the firstborn among many brethren. What does that mean? Christ is
the firstborn. Turn with me over to Colossians
1. Colossians 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. First. First one resurrected. First one born from the dead.
Now let me ask this question. Why did Jesus Christ die? And let's think about this. Why did Jesus Christ die? If
everything was ordered and sure from the foundation of the world.
Right? If God's purposes are as good
as done, said done. And all of that happened before
the foundation of the world. Why did Jesus Christ die? Because he had to. He must. Let's go over to Matthew 16. Matthew 16 verse 21 says from
that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples how that
he must go to Jerusalem. He must. My point being. One thing is true. Is it not
true it was from the foundation of the world? Well, then let's
hold to that and forget everything after it. No, he said, 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. I must, I have to go do this. He said, as Moses lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted
up. I have to go do it. He said,
Father, if there was any way this cup could pass from me.
If there was any other way. Nevertheless, not my will be
done. He must why the covenant is built on it. The covenants
built on it without his death, there is no covenant period. When were God's elect centers
saved? I'll tell you when, when Christ
died on that cross. I thought you just said it was
from the foundation of the world. I did. God's people were saved in eternity
and God's people were saved in Christ's blood. Is one more important
than the other? No. All right, let's go back over
to our text in Romans 8. Verse 30 says, Moreover, whom
he did predestinate, them he also called." That means he notified
them. Called means commanded and it
means to bid to come. That's what it means. Every sinner
that God loves whom he did foreknow and whom he did predestinate,
every single one of them that he foreknew and every single
one of them that he predestinate, That is wrapped up in the word
whom, whom he did foreknow and whom he did predestinate, them
he also called. Every one of them. Every single
one of them. Called to what? A knowledge of
who he is. A knowledge of who we are. We're
sinners. A knowledge of what Christ did. 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. Let's go to
second Thessalonians chapter two. 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 13 says,
For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because
when you received the word of God, which you heard of us and
received, you received it not as the word of men, but as it
is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also
in you that believe. For you, brethren, became followers
of the churches of God, which in Judea are in Christ Jesus. For you also have suffered like
things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews." Called of God. Opened blind eyes. What is the truth? Christ said,
I am the truth. I'm the truth. Let's go to 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? When God sends the faith of Christ
to that sinner. When God causes that sinner to
believe. Cry out for mercy when God calls
that sinner to come. That call is a bid to come. When that sinner comes to the
Lord Jesus Christ, that sinner is saved. Does he play a role in that work?
No, he does not. No, he does not. All the glory
goes to God for it. A person is going to hear this
and say, how can it be this way if it's that way? I don't understand it all. How can it be from the foundation
of the world if it's when Christ died, if it's when we believe? Here's the answer. We're not
called to understand it all. We're called to believe it all.
Believe it all. Faith means this. Here's Webster's
Dictionary. Unquestioning belief. That's
what my children have. Most of the time. Unquestioning
belief. Our Lord said, whoever shall
not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not
enter in. Whatever God says is right. That's
it. It's right. God's elect were saved in eternity.
God's elect were saved in the blood of Christ. God's elect
are saved when faith is given. They sure are. when the Holy
Spirit comes and causes that sinner to come to Christ. That
faith is a continual coming. That faith is a continual coming.
Lord, I need salvation today. Today. I need it today. God's people are not looking
back on faith that was given one time. Not looking back to
anything. They are looking back to the
cross, but they're not looking back
on any experience of faith that they had. I need faith today. Lord, I need faith today. The
apostles said, Lord, increase our faith today. Let's go to
Philippians 3. Philippians 3 verse 13 says, Brethren, I count not myself
to have apprehended, 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. I come today. I need to be justified
today. 1st Corinthians 6 says this. 1st 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. You are right now. Today. Today is the day of salvation.
Lord, I cling to you today. Today. Save me today. Help me today. Help me today. Go back over to Romans 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, then He also called And whom
He called, them He also justified, and whom He justified, them He
also glorified. Now let's go to 1 Thessalonians
4. Our Lord told His disciples,
and He's told all of His people through His word, that He was
going to prepare a place for them. 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's when we're truly
going to be saved from the sinful world that we live in. That's
when I'm going to be saved from my flesh. The reality of salvation. 1 Thessalonians 4 verse 16 says,
God's people were saved in eternity. God's people were saved in the
blood of Christ. God's people are saved when faith
is given. God's people are saved every
day. Every day. This is a living salvation. And God's people shall be saved,
finally, physically saved when Christ comes back. Now here's
the question. I understand, I acknowledge that
this was very doctrinal. But man, it's true. It's true. Now here's my question.
After all that, okay? After all that, if we didn't
get anything, let's get this. Which one of these can we leave
out and still be preaching the truth? That's what religions are built
on. All of the truth is the truth.
I don't like that one. This is going to be us. I don't
like that one. This one's going to be us. That's
what religions are built on. Can we say salvation comes when
a sinner believes and deny that it was secured from the foundation
of the world? No. Can we say salvation was secured
from the foundation of the world and deny that it comes when we
believe? No. Why? God said so. Lord, teach
me, cause me to understand that. We'll close with 2 Corinthians
1. Go with me to 2 Corinthians 1.
2 Corinthians 1 verse 10 says,
Who delivered us, that's the past, from so great a death,
and doth deliver us, that's the present, in whom we trust that
He will yet deliver us. We have been saved. We are being
saved, and we shall be saved. That's the whole counsel of God.
That's the whole counsel of God. All right, let's stand together.