Here in Romans 8, it says in
verse 28, And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to purpose, 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.
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." Now, I want to talk about predestination
this morning. My message on predestination.
I read to you over there in Ephesians where it said, predestinated
twice. Here we have predestinate twice. And as we look at this blessed
truth of predestination according to the Scriptures, predestination
is one of the most abused, misused, misunderstood doctrines of the
Holy Scriptures. It is. It's just people misuse
it, misrepresent it, misunderstand it. And it's not only misrepresented
by those who hate it, But oftentimes it's also misrepresented by those
who claim to be its friends. You see, words mean different
things to different people. Every denomination, man-made
denomination, and every era has always been around one particular
thing, one particular verse of Scripture, a few verses of Scripture.
But let me show you what I mean by what different words mean
different things to different people. Some people say that
predestination means what will be, will be. Well, in a sense,
that's true. But the difference is what God
has willed to be, will be. We're not just left out here
to the winds of time and the winds of chance and without some
power, some wisdom, some glory behind it. You see, he works
all things after the counsel of his own will. He says, he doeth according to
his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of
the earth, and no man can say his hand or say unto him what
doeth that. So we would have to say that
what God wills will be. We surely ain't going to say
what will be won't be when it comes to God's will. But that's
not what the doctrine of predestination has to do with at all. But let's
say something else about how people's words, different words,
mean different things to different people. Some say predestination
means that before men were born, God predestinated some to heaven
and some to hell. Now, that's not true either.
That's not what predestination has to do with in the Scripture.
The Word of God no worse says this. If a man goes to heaven,
If he gets to see the inside of God's heaven, if he gets to
enjoy the Lord Jesus Christ throughout eternity, it will be because
of God's grace and mercy. But if a man goes to hell, it
will be because of his own sin, his own unbelief, and his own
rebellion. He just refuses to come to God
God's way. And others say that if a person
is predestinated to be saved, He will be saved. But here's
the kicker. If a person's predestinated to
be saved, he will be saved whether he hears the gospel, whether
he seeks the Lord, or whether he believes on Christ. And if
he's not predestinated, he can't be saved even if he wants to.
This is not true. How many times have I heard that
excuse? If a man couldn't even believe,
he couldn't even be saved if he wanted to. Well, I'll tell
you about that. Now, I want you to turn. I'm
going to quote you a verse of Scripture, but look over here in 1 Thessalonians
with me. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it's the gift of God. A man's
not going to be saved without faith, and faith is going to
be the gift of God. And that's why Paul says, you
know, he says, Brethren, we're bound always to thank God for
you because He, has from the beginning chosen you unto salvation,
but what? Through sanctification of the
Spirit, setting you apart by the Spirit, and through belief
of the truth, were unto he called you by our gospel." Now, a man's
going to hear the gospel. He's going to be called. God's
going to cross His path with the gospel. He's going to cross
His path with the truth. And here in 1 Thessalonians 1,
4, it says this, Knowing, brethren, beloved, your
election of God for our gospel. This is how we know a person's
election. This is how we know whether we're one of God's elect.
Peter said, make your calling and election sure for our gospel
came not unto you in word only, but also in power and in the
Holy Ghost. And in much assurance, what much
assurance is he talking about here? Much assurance that what
you're hearing is coming from God Himself. Coming from God,
coming about God, coming about Christ, coming about your sin,
and it comes in the Holy Ghost, and with it, it makes assurance
that what you're hearing is the truth, and you know what manner
of men we were among you, for Christ's sake. And you know,
beloved, so a man, this idea that a man predestinated to be
saved without hearing the gospel, without believing on Christ,
without seeking the Lord, that's not true. You see, God uses means
to call men to himself. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching, not just to save anybody, them that believe. Ain't that right? And I tell you, he says, go ye
into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth
not shall be damned. Our Lord Jesus says this in John
3, 36, He that believeth on the Son hath life. He that believeth
not the Son of God hath not life, but the wrath of God abideth
on him. Now, if a man wants to, truly
wants to know Christ, And see, Christ, He came. I brought a
message last Sunday morning on what a man confesses Christ.
Scripture said in Romans 10, 13, Whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call
on Him in whom they have not what? Believed. And how shall
they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? Now I read a
thing this week, and I'm going to put it in the bulletin next
week. where Billy Graham and Robert Shooter says that Pharisees
met a lot of people all over this world that's never heard
the name of Jesus, never seen a Bible, but because they're
sincere in their heart and they're seeking a God, that they're going
to be saved. That's not true. If that's so,
let's never take the gospel to them. Let's never tell them about
Christ. If you can be saved without Christ,
let's stop preaching right now. If you can be saved without the
gospel, let's never preach it again. All we're doing is making
men more judgment-prone, more prone to face God and bring their
condemnation upon Him that much greater. Is that not right? And oh, beloved, I tell you,
if a man wants to know Christ, he can. And if a man don't want
to, it's because he don't want to. He just don't want to. And
the Word, no one, I tell you, beloved, no one's ever perished
at the door of mercy. The devil wants to have a person
at the door of mercy. But the word predestinate is
used four times here in the Scriptures. Twice here in Romans 8, and I
showed you twice over there in Ephesians 1, where it says, having
predestinated us under the adoption of children by Jesus Christ.
To an inheritance being predestinated. So the doctrine of predestination
is plainly taught in God's Word. I mean, it's just as obvious
as the nose on your face. And I hope and pray that the
Holy Spirit would teach us today and enable us to learn something
today about this blessed truth of predestination. And may the
Holy Spirit teach us, and there's four things, four things that
stand out in these verses that I read this morning that I believe
will help us to understand the doctrine of predestination. First
of all, look here in Romans 8.29, and watch what it says here. The first word we want to look
at is this, for whom He did foreknow. He did predestinate. He might
be the firstborn among brethren, moreover whom He did predestinate
in verse 30. He also called. He called. He justified. He glorified. So here's what we're saying is,
the first word we find about predestination is that He, we're
dealing with He. Now, what does that mean? That
means there's salvation to the Lord. He did predestinate. He called. He glorified. He foreknew. He predestinated. So you see,
it has to do with the salvation to the Lord. Jonah learned that,
and he learned it, beloved, in the valley of hell itself. And
that's where a man, he'll learn, he'll learn that when God starts
bringing a man down, and He's going to bring a man down before
He ever brings him up. He's going to kill him before
He ever makes him alive. He's going to empty him before He ever fills
him. He's going to strip him before He closes him. And God
will turn you upside down, turn you every way but loose, until
you know the salvations of the Lord. Huh? And it's the gift
of God. It's God who called us with a
holy calling. It's God who gave us grace in
Christ before the world began. It's God who predestinated us
according to His purpose. As the old hymn writer said,
"'Tis not that I did choose thee, for Lord, that could not be.
If thou, Lord, hast not chosen me, I'd never, never have chosen
thee.'" Let me ask you three questions. I've asked these many
times over the years, but let me ask them. Three questions,
and answer these three questions scripturally. Did you choose
God, or did God choose you? Huh? Look over here in Romans 3.11. You know, our Lord Jesus Christ
said in John 15.16, while you turn to Romans, No you not, you
have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you. Our Lord Jesus says, you will
not, you will not come to me that you might have life. And
Romans 3.11 says this, there is none that understandeth,
there is none that seeketh after God. Now you reckon God told
a lie on the human race when He said that? You know, God looks down on the
human race and said there's not a one on this face of this earth
that understands. Understands me, understands the
Word, understands sin, understands salvation, understands what righteousness
is, understands what justification is. There's not a person on the
face of the earth that understands that. And not only that, but
they don't seek me because that's where it's all at. Huh? And our Lord Jesus says this,
over in John 3.19, He says, this is condemnation, that light come
into the world. And what did men do when that
light come into the world? They loved their darkness. They
loved it. Now, how in the world does a
person get out of that darkness that they love? As you know,
we love darkness too. Why did we get out of that darkness
that we love? God who translated us from the
kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the Son of His love. Huh? He had to do it. And all
man left to himself would never, never, never bow to the Lord
Jesus Christ. So, second question. When did
God choose you? When did He choose you? Was it
when you heard the gospel? Was it when you believed? Was
it when you professed? according as He hath chosen us
in Christ before the foundation of the world. God who called
us and saved us with holy calling and gave us grace in Christ before
the world ever began on purpose. No wonder God are all His works
from the creation. O beloved, we believe because He chose us. We heard
the gospel because He chose us. We profess that He's our Lord
because He first chose us. We'd have never chosen Him. And
when did He choose you? In Christ, before the foundation
of the world. Ain't that what it says? Before
God ever hung the stars in the sky. Before, it says over in
Job, before the sons of God shouted for joy, before the cherubims
ever fluttered a wing in the presence of God Himself and cried,
Holy, before He hung the world on nothing, He chose us. Now let me give you another reason.
Now turn over in Ephesians 1. Let me ask you another question.
Not only did you choose God, or did God choose you, when did
He choose you? Was it after you believed? Was
it after you professed? And the third question is, why
did He choose you? Why did He choose you? Why did
He choose you? How can it be, how can it be
that thou, my God, didst love me? How could it possibly be
that He'd love me? Die for me. Why did he choose
you? Was it because he saw some good
in you? Was it because he needed you? Was it because you was not as
bad a sinner as somebody else was? Well, look here in Ephesians
1, in verse 5. Having predestinated us under
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, watch it now,
according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of
his glory, of his grace when he hath made us accepted in the
beloved. Why did he do it? Pleased him
to do it. Pleased him to do it. Our Lord
Jesus Christ, he stood, he said, Father, I thank you. I thank you that thou hast hid
these things." What things? The truth concerning me. The
truth concerning your glory. The truth concerning my coming
into this world. I'm thankful that you hid these
things from the wise and prudent, everybody, those fellows that
know everything. They'd be taught nothing. Them
people that's already got it all figured out. Those people
that's got an experience that stays old. Them people that's
been on every altar, been baptized 14 times. Those people that are
wise and prudent. You hit it from them. You just
buy it. You just hit it. But you revealed
them to babies. And babies don't know nothing. A little old lady, she comes
around. We're always trying to teach her a new word. Teach her
how to mine. We have to teach her everything
she knows. That's what God done with us. We're babies. He has
to teach us. And, oh, beloved, salvation begins
with God's will, not our will. It begins with His purpose, not
our purpose. And it says, He, He, He, He,
He, who He foreknew, who He called, who He justified. He. So salvation
is of the Lord. That's the first thing we see
about predestination. And there's conditions. I don't
deny it at all. There are conditions to salvation.
But here's the difference. Christ met all those conditions
and gave them to His elect. You know what the first condition
is? Obedience. Perfect obedience from the day
you're born to the day you die. Doing God's will perfectly from
the day you're in this world until the day you leave. Christ
did that for us, didn't He, Gary? I mean perfect. I mean, if it
ain't perfect, God won't accept it. Ain't that right? It has to be perfect to be accepted.
He says, you know, our offers has to be without spot, without
blemish. Our spirit has to be perfect. Our heart and our love
for Him has to be perfect. Our heart and love for one another
has to be perfect. We can't sin in thought, we can't
sin in word, we can't sin in imagination, we can't sin in
no way, shape, form, or fashion, and be accepted of God. Well,
bless His holy name, Christ put away all of our sin, and He rendered
perfect obedience to God, and He bore our punishment on the
cross as He bore our sins away, and now everything that God requires,
Christ gave to us. Ain't that right? That's why
he says, without holy and without blame, before him. Here's the
second word. Back over here in Romans 8. Here's the second word. I want
you to see this. And over there in Ephesians,
I should have read it to you while I was over there. He predestinated
us unto the adoption of children to Jesus Christ. We are the predestinated. Here it says this, in verse 30, for whom he did
predestinate them, you see that? Them he justified. Us and them. That's what we are.
We are an us and a them. That word us. Having predestinated
us under the adoption of children to Jesus Christ our Savior. And
in these verses, I want you to understand this. There is not
the mention of an unbeliever connected with predestination.
An unbeliever. It's only it is who he foreknew. Those he predestinated, those
he chose, them he foreknew. So it's a particular people.
And when you look at this, there's not an unbeliever mentioned in
this. It don't say anything about it. No, it says something about
what God does and who he does it for. Us. And him he foreknew,
whatever predestination of forge or brains, whatever it accomplished,
it only has to do with believers. Now ain't that right? Only has
to do with believers. He loved us. He chose us. He called us. He justified us.
He glorified us. He also predestinated us to something. And we'll see that here in a
minute. Predestinate us to something. He predestinated us to salvation
in Christ in this fitness of fornuity. Justification, calling,
glorification, adoption, inheritance, all of them are things that's
reserved for His people. Now, reformation and spiritual
blindness, hardening of the heart, that's a whole other subject.
And I'm not afraid to preach on reprobation. I've preached
on it before. And I tell you, there is a choosing as a passing
by. But this is not what this is
talking about. Predestination has to do with believers. He
has predestinated us. Them he called. Them he called. And look here at the third word. There it says this in verse 29,
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate, now watch
this, to be conformed to the image of his Son. Conformed to
the image of his Son. He hath predestinated us under
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself. Now this has
to do with predestination, being conformed to the image of his
son. Man was made in the image of God. God said, let us make
man in our own image. That's his original way. God
originally created him in his own image. But when sin entered
into that garden through Adam, and that sin, we've lost that
image of God. Those semblance of God left in
us after Adam fell. He was born, and we are born
now, not in the image of God, but in the image of Adam. All
in Adam. Flesh. Rotten, stinking, sin-loving
flesh. Corrupt flesh. I know that it
be in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. I mean, God said we drank
iniquity like it's water. We were shaped in iniquity, and
we were conceived in what? Sin. My great-grandfather was a fine
man. As far as I can remember, he
was a fine man. But I tell you what, he produced three miserable,
wretched sons, and all three of them were drunks, alcoholics,
mean as rattlesnakes. But how could he produce sons
like that? Because that's what he was. He may not have done
without it, but that's what he was in his heart. Ain't that right? Well, my mom was the finest person
in the world. She may be to you, but what's
she like in God's sight? And you see, that's what he's
talking about here. What we are in Adam. And that's what we were
born with. We were dead. We are. We're dead
in trespasses and sins. The Spirit that works in the
children of disobedience, we walked according to the Spirit
and power and prince of this earth. And the Scripture says
we were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But
the Lord Jesus, the Lord God of heaven, in His sovereign grace,
in His sovereign purpose, has predestinated and purposed to
have a people which no man can number out of this race. He took Abraham out. Genesis
15, 5. You look at it yourself. He took
him out and he still said, Abraham, look up. Can you tell those stars? Can
you count those stars? He said, no, no, no, no. Ain't nowhere in the world. And anywhere you go on the face
of the earth, whenever the sky's clear, and there ain't a lot
of light, you just see a sky full of stars. If you're in Mexico,
you're like that. Sky full of stars. Step out on
my porch, And he said, Abraham, that's
how many children you're going to have. Abraham said, Amen,
I believe that. And that's what God is. He said,
Abraham, you're going to be the father. And listen, we're the
children of Abraham sitting here right now. Children of faith
are the children of Abraham. Is that not right? And oh, beloved,
that's what he's talking about. These people are predestinated
to be like his son. Here's the thing about it. The
Scripture says that we shall see Him as He is and shall be
like Him. And this is the blessed glory,
a sacred object of predestination, is to make a people like Christ. Huh? Oh, my. That's one of the grievous things
that we have to deal with when we live in this world is our
inability to be like Christ, our sin. God has determined to
have a people like Christ. He said He's going to predestinate
us to be conformed to the image of His Son. And all the means
that are necessary to bring us to Christ and to make us like
Him, He has ordained and predestinated those things to happen to conform
us to the image of Christ. That's right. As many as were ordained to eternal
life, what did they do? They believed. Paul was getting
mistreated in Corinth. They lied on him, beat him, cussed
him, wanted to run him out of town. The Jews were envious of
him. He caused all kinds of trouble. He got up one night and said,
I'm leaving in the morning. I'm leaving town tomorrow morning.
The Lord Jesus came to him that night and said, Paul, you stay
right here. He said, no man's going to lay
hands on you, no man's going to hurt you. Why, Lord? I've got much people in this
city. So, Paul said that we are. Keep on preaching. I've got a
lot of people in this city. And, oh, beloved, you see, He
chose us in Christ. Ain't that right? He made the
Lord Jesus Christ our surety, our representative. One who stood
good for us and represented us in this world and represented
us before God and before the law. He was the one who sent
Him into the world. When the fullness of time was
come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the
law, to do what? To redeem us that were under
the law. It says, it pleased the Lord
to bruise Him and to make His soul an offering for sin. It
pleased the Lord that in Christ all fullness should dwell. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believed. Paul said, It pleased
God to reveal His Son in me and to me. It was He that brought us Christ
as the One who was raised up to grant repentance unto us. And it was He that gave us faith. And it tells us that He will
be the one to keep us kept by the power of God through faith.
He which hath begun a good work, He's going to perform it under
the day of Jesus Christ. And not only that, but He's going
to raise these bowed bodies and fashion them like unto His own
glorious body. Huh? God is going to be conformed
to His image. And the fourth verse, the fourth
word is this, there in Romans 8.29, For whom He did predestinate,
He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His
Son. Conformed to the image of His Son. Oh, my goodness. But now look here, that he might
be the firstborn. That he, he might be the firstborn
among many brethren. Look with me in Colossians 118,
just a moment. You know, everything God does
in salvation, He does for His glory. He predestinated
us to the praise of the glory of His grace. to the praise of His glory, God
hath appointed a day that every knee is going to bow, and every
tongue is going to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the
glory of God the Father. It's going to do that. Every
knee is going to bow. God has swore that in righteousness.
Isaiah said, I swear in righteousness that every knee is going to bow.
I mean every knee that's ever been on topside of God's earth
is going to bow and confess that Jesus Christ has ever been Our
president went and stood before a grand old big statue of Buddha.
That's all there is about Buddha is a statue. Got eyes, but he
can't see. Ears, he can't hear. People burn
incense to him, pray to him. He's a statue. He's going to
bow one of these days and say, Jesus Christ is Lord. Amen. Mohammed, who started this Muslim
religion, he's going to bow and say, Jesus Christ is Lord. Him that's going to be brought
from the grave and he's going to bow and confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord. And you that's not done it yet,
you're going to come down one of these days and you're going
to bow and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. I've done bowed
and I bow every day and I bow before God right now and say,
yes, Jesus Christ is Lord, my Lord, my sovereign, my despot,
my ruler, my savior, my hope, my plea, everything that I have
before God is in Him. And I gladly owe Him as the one
who has all right to do with me as He pleases. Day by day
and with each passing moment. Yes. And, oh beloved, that He
might be the firstborn. Let me tell you something. You
know, talking about being conformed to the image of Christ, let me
give you some things we're already conformed to Him in. First of
all, we're conformed to Christ in nature. We've been born of
God. Been born again. Not by flesh,
but by the Holy Spirit. You know, the Scripture says,
2 Peter 1, verse 4, made partakers of the divine nature. Huh? Oh my! Our Lord Jesus Christ,
did you know He says this? That by His own will, God's will,
He begatty us with the Word of Truth. John says that we cannot
sin. Why? Because His seed remains
within us. Whose seed? Christ's seed. You
know, Peter says there's a corruptible seed and an incorruptible seed.
That corruptible seed's after the flesh. That incorruptible
seed's after the Spirit. You never ever know what sin
was or weaned over or groaned over until God made you a partaker
of His divine nature and put that seed in you. Now, is that
not right? You didn't care about sin, but
now, beloved, you care about it because that holy nature that's
in you despises it. And that's that holy nature,
that seed that Christ put in us, that communes with God. Only
holiness can commune with holiness. And if God didn't give us a holy
nature, and give us, make us, for day's truth, of Christ, how
could we commune with Him? How could we talk with Him? What
nature in us communes with God, fellowships with God, understands
the Scriptures? and calls on God and trusts God.
It certainly ain't have nothing to do with our flesh. It's that
new nature. It's that new creature. It's
that part maker of our divine nature. So we've been conformed to His
image in nature. And oh, we love to commune with
God. Secondly, we are conformed to Christ in relationship. The
Scripture says, now are we, now are we the sons of God. Not going
to be who we are right now. You know, God sent forth the
Spirit of His Son into our hearts. And what do we do? We cry, I
have a Father. Oh, oh, beloved. And we're conformed
to Christ in character. Our Lord Jesus Christ says, You
are not of this world, even as I am not of this world. We long to be free from this
world. This world here is a wilderness to us. It's a wilderness. We long to be, you know, we long
to, oh, we're not of this world. We're not of this world's ambition
and self-righteousness and hatred and enmity toward God, toward
Christ. We're conformed to Christ in
character. And we're conformed to Christ in inheritance. Over
in Ephesians 1, now I read it to you men to go there in verse
13, it says there, being predestinated to an inheritance. Being joint
heirs with Christ. Only children are heirs. What is Christ going to get?
He's going to get everything. But we're going to get everything,
too. We're going to get everything,
too. You know, when Abraham sent his servant Eliezer to go get
a bride for his son Isaac, you know, the first thing he said,
he says, I'm not going to eat and I'm not going to drink until
I tell my business. And the first thing he says,
my master has a son. And here's the first thing out
of his mouth. He's the heir of everything. So if you get him, you get everything
that goes with him. Oh my! Well, what does he have? Well, he's got these jewels here.
He's got this silver. He's got this gold. He's got
this glorious raiment here. Will you go? Let's go! And he
started on. And that's the way it is with
us. Whatever Christ inherits, whatever He has, that's ours
too. That's ours too. And then, beloved, we shall be
like Him in glory. The Scripture says we shall see
Him as He is. And we shall be just like Him.
Just like Him. John says this, as Christ is,
now even so are we. So are we. Now, this is the doctrine
of predestination. God has ordained that every believer
shall be like his son. And he has ordained the means
to accomplish that end and to accomplish that work. He's ordained
the means. Whatever it takes, God's going
to see that someday, in the end, I'm going to be just like His
Son and be that way throughout all eternity. Sinless, holy,
love God, obey God, delight in God, rejoice around God. Ain't that what it says? Oh my, what's it going to be
like? You know, we go, we have troubles
in this world, we have such heaviness sometimes. We face death, we
face sorrow, we face trouble, we face heartache, aggravation. And we sometimes
could just rip the flesh and just say, oh, just take it off
like it's gold. But one of these days we will.
And we'll wake up in glory just like our Lord Jesus Christ. And here's the thing. Here's
the thing. You say, well, you reckon I'm
one of God's? Well, let me ask you this. Do you want to be made
like Christ? Do you want to be made like Christ?
If you do, You're one of those ones he foreknew. One of them he predestinated. One of them he called. One of
them he justified. One of them he glorified. And
what are we going to say to these things? If God be with us, who
can be against us? Amen.