In the Lord's Providence, I didn't
know this until I got here this morning, but on page four of
your bulletin this morning is the outline for the message that
I wanted to bring. So you don't have to make any
notes, they're all right there for you. I wanted to address the question,
when does God save a sinner? In religion, men like to talk
about when they got saved. And they hang all the hopes of
their salvation on a subjective experience that they had in time. The truth is that the scriptures
speak of salvation as eternal. Eternal. Now, sometimes I fear
that we think of eternal as something begins now and lasts forever.
But in fact, when the scripture speaks of eternity, it's talking
about something that never had an end and never had a beginning,
never has an end. And so when the Lord speaks of
eternal life, He's not talking about a life that begins at a
certain point in time. It's the life of God that's eternal. And our God has never changed. He's never been taught anything. He's never had a new thought. He's never changed His mind.
He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He said, I am the
Lord, and I change not. And therefore you sons of Jacob
are not consumed. A day is as of a thousand years,
and a thousand years is of a day. When we try to put God into our
experience of time, all we're doing is making Him to be like
ourselves. Our God is not limited by time. He's the eternal God. And I'd
like for you to turn with me, if you will, in your Bibles to
Isaiah chapter 65. Isaiah chapter 65. When we speak of our God being
immutable, He is the only one that can be called immutable.
He's the only one that has never changed. Notice what he says
in Isaiah chapter 65 verse 1, I am sought of them that ask
not for me. I am found of them that sought
me not. I said, behold me, behold me
unto a nation that was not called by my name. So here our God says,
you didn't seek for me. But I called out to you, and
as you just read in Psalm 110, I made you willing in the day
of my power. Notice in the last part of this
chapter, verse 24, of Isaiah 65, and it shall come
to pass that before they call, I will answer, and while they
are yet speaking, I will hear. Before they call, I will answer. See, the truth is that God saves
His people before they ever call on Him to save them. That's what the Lord's saying
here, that His salvation's eternal. He's going to make sure that
He finishes what He starts. He's not going to leave anything
undone. But the salvation of God's people is something that
began in eternity past, when God, according to His own will
and purpose, chose a particular people. in the work of election. This is such a glorious truth. When a believer prays, it's because
the Lord has put it on his heart to pray. And our prayers are
not for the purpose of changing God. Our prayers change us. they change us. Psalm 139, the
Lord said, I know your words before you
speak them. And so the words that we express in prayer to
our God, He puts them in our hearts. He causes us to pray. And He tells us here, before
they call, I will answer. And before While they are yet speaking,
I will hear. Our God has been pleased to save
a particular people in the covenant of grace that he established
in eternity past. Listen to 2 Timothy chapter 1
verse 9. Our God has saved us and called
us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
his purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. So when is a sinner saved? Well, he was saved in eternity
past. He was saved God was pleased
to choose him and elect him and write his name in the Lamb's
Book of Life. There's no salvation apart from
that. The Lord Jesus Christ is referred to in the scriptures
as called the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world.
God has always seen his people in Christ and he's always loved
them. He said, I've loved you with
an everlasting love. God's never seen his people outside
of Christ. So in the covenant of grace,
the people of God have always found acceptance in the presence
of God. Isaiah chapter 45, if you'd like
to turn with me back a few pages. Israel shall be saved in the
Lord with an everlasting salvation. That's Isaiah chapter 45 verse
17. Israel shall be saved in the
Lord with an everlasting salvation. Salvation is not something that
we decide on, it's something that God's decided on. And it
goes all the way back into eternity past. In 2 Thessalonians 2, verse
13, we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren,
beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen
you unto salvation by the sanctification of the Spirit, and belief in
the truth. So when is a sinner saved? He's saved in the covenant of
grace before time ever began. Scripture speaks of being chosen
in Him before the foundation of the world, predestinated to
the adoption of children in Christ Jesus unto salvation according
to the good pleasure of His will. We're saved in election. And all of these glorious truths
about the salvation of a sinner stand or fall together. Though we are saved in election,
that salvation had to be accomplished in redemption. And so, the Lord
makes it clear. Turn with me to Jeremiah chapter
23. Ahem. I love comparing Jeremiah 23
to Jeremiah 33 because in Jeremiah 23, the scripture says that he
shall be called the Lord our righteousness. And then in Jeremiah
chapter 33, speaking of the bride of Christ, the body of Christ,
the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, the scripture says, and
she shall be called the Lord our righteousness. And so he
puts his name on his church, doesn't he? and makes us accepted
in the beloved. Look at verse 5 of Jeremiah chapter
23. Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous branch, and
a king shall reign and prosper, and he shall execute judgment
and justice in the world. Judgment had to be executed. The wrath of God had to be satisfied. The justice of God had to be
appeased. The Lord Jesus Christ is called
our propitiation. He had to suffer the wrath of
God in order to satisfy God's divine justice. And in his days,
verse six, in his days shall Judah be saved. And so when were
we saved? When is the sinner saved? He
saved in the covenant of grace when God, according to his own
will and purpose, chose a people. and purpose to shed the blood
of his dear son, but he saved in the days of the Lord Jesus
Christ, Israel shall dwell safely, and his name whereby he shall
be called the Lord our righteousness." There's no salvation apart from
the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary's cross. And
so though election is a precious, glorious truth that defines our
God, redemption comes out of that, doesn't it? In Romans chapter 5 we read,
we are justified by his blood and we shall be saved from the
wrath that is to come. So, the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ justifies us in the sight of our holy God. To be justified
is to be without sin. To be without sin. The Lord Jesus
Christ makes us sinless. As the Bible says, as He is,
so are we in this world. We're accepted in the Beloved. When we were enemies, we were
reconciled to God by the death of His Son, and He shall save
His people from their sins. So, the work of redemption on
Calvary's cross is when God's people are saved. The Lord Jesus
Christ did not waste a drop of His blood. He laid down His life,
not for the goats, but for the sheep. And he died in their stead
and accomplished their salvation. The death of the Lord Jesus Christ
on Calvary's cross is not an offer. It's not an offer to man
to be accepted or rejected by the free will of man. It was
an offer of redemption that the Lord Jesus Christ gave to his
father. And the scripture says that God
looked and saw the travail of his soul and God was satisfied. God was satisfied with the finished
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, for those glorious words
that he spoke just before he hung his mighty head and gave
up the ghost, it is finished. It is finished. The work of redemption
for the salvation of my people. I came in order to save my people,
in order to redeem my bride, in order to bring them to myself.
And he accomplished that work, didn't he? He finished the work
that God gave him to do. When Our sinners saved. They're saved
in election. They're saved before the foundation
of the world. They're saved in redemption when the Lord Jesus
Christ became their surety on Calvary's cross. when he bore
their sins, all their sins, in his body upon the tree and suffered
the full wrath of God's justice in order to satisfy God and put
away their sins. That's when they were saved.
But they're also saved in regeneration. There's no salvation. Look at
our text in verse 24 of Isaiah chapter 65. And it shall come
to pass that before they call, I will answer. There's no salvation
apart from calling on the Lord. Romans chapter 10 verse 12 says
there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek for the
same Lord over all is rich upon all them that call upon him for
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved
now we call because he makes us willing in the day of his
power and apart from the Spirit of God well You show me someone who's calling
upon the Lord to be saved, and I'll show you someone who's already
saved. That's the work of grace. Faith is the result of our salvation. Faith is calling upon Christ
is what the child of God does by the Spirit of God. He's brought
to faith. Turn with me to Jeremiah chapter
29. Verse 10, now the children of
Israel during the ministry of the prophet Jeremiah were in
Babylon. And they were in Babylon for
70 years. And Babylon is a picture of this
godless world in which we live. And 70 years is the life of a
man, 3 score and 10. It's a representative picture
of our life in this world. And the Lord promises his people
in verse 10, for thus saith the Lord, that after 70 years be
accomplished at Babylon. God has a work to accomplish
in the lives of his people here in this world. I will visit you
and perform my good word toward you in causing you to return
to this place. The Lord has to cause us, doesn't
he? In another place, the prophet said, turn me, Lord, and I'll
be turned. Cause me to see and I'll see. And that's exactly
what he does in the miracle of the new birth. Now what the Lord
said to Nicodemus in John chapter 3, when Nicodemus said, Master,
we know that you're son of God, for no man can do the things
that thou doest, except God be with him. And what the Lord,
the Lord cut right to the chase, didn't he? He said, Oh, Nicodemus,
you can't perceive of the kingdom of God. You cannot begin to understand
who I am unless you're born again. This matter of regeneration is
necessary for your salvation. And Nicodemus thought, well,
how can I go back into my mother's womb and be born? What can I
do to be born again? And the Lord said, oh, no, Nicodemus,
that which is of the flesh is flesh, but that which is of the
spirit, It's the Spirit. The flesh profiteth nothing.
The Spirit is the one that gives life. And the Spirit's like the
wind. He listeth with us whoever He
wills. You can't control the Spirit
of God. But oh, the Spirit of God is the one who makes us willing,
isn't He? The Spirit of God is the one
who opens the eyes of our understanding. The Spirit of God is the one
who gives us faith. The Spirit of God is the one
who causes us to be born again. Born of the Spirit, born from
above. And so here's what the Lord says, I'm going to perform
my good word toward you. I'm going to accomplish my purpose.
I'm going to give you faith. I'm going to cause you to come.
For I know, I love this verse, for I know the thoughts that
I think toward you, saith the Lord. Thoughts of peace and not
of evil. All things really do work together
for good. for them that love God and those of the cult according
to His purpose. There are some difficult things
to have to deal with in this life, but they all come from
the hand of a loving Heavenly Father who has good things for
His people in His providence. I know the thoughts that I have
for you, thoughts of good, not of evil. For what purpose do these things
happen? To what purpose to all the things? And there's an article
in your bulletin, I think, also on pervenient grace. Everything
that happens in the child of God is by God's grace. Sometimes
men like to talk about common grace, because they see that
the rain falls on the righteous and the unrighteous, and the
unbeliever enjoys gifts from God. But the only reason that
the unbeliever enjoys anything from God is because the believer's
here. Grace is never spoken of in the Bible except for saving
grace. No such thing as common grace. The evidence of that is
that when the last of God's elect are saved, the rain is not going
to come on this earth. Fire is going to come. The earth
is going to be destroyed. But I know the thoughts that
I have for you to give you an expected end. The Lord is not
going to leave one child behind. Every one of His children are
going to believe, and every one of them are going to be saved.
Then, then you shall call upon Me, and you shall go and pray
unto Me, and I will hearken unto you, and you shall seek Me and
find Me when you shall search for Me with all of your hearts,
and I will be found of you, saith the Lord, and I will turn away
your captivity, and I will gather you from the nations, and from
all the places whither I have driven you, sayeth the Lord,
and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you
to be carried away captive." I'm going to do this. I'm going
to do it all. God's going to do all the saving
in election. in redemption, in regeneration,
in sanctification, in glorification. He's going to do it all or he
won't do it at all. He gets all the glory, doesn't
he? He said, the Lord Jesus Christ is called the Alpha and the Omega,
the beginning and the end, the first and the last. He chose
us in Christ, in the covenant of grace, in eternity past, and
he's going to receive us into glory. And we're going to see
him as he is and be made like him without sin. God's people
delight in giving the Lord Jesus Christ all the glory for their
salvation. Listen to Titus 2 verse 5. Not
by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to
his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and the
renewing of the Holy Ghost. So it's God that gives us His
Spirit. It's God that opens the eyes
of our understanding. It's God that enables us to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourself. It's not a decision we make.
It's a work of God's grace in the heart. He calls us with a holy calling. He regenerates us by the power
of His Holy Spirit. That's what David was talking
about when David said, don't you love the 2 Samuel chapter
23, these be David's last words. You can tell a lot about a man
from his last words, can't you? I want you to imagine for me
just a moment that you are laying on your deathbed and your loved
ones are standing around you and you have one opportunity
to summarize the most important thing in your heart to those
people standing by your bedside before you take your last breath.
You would choose your words very carefully, wouldn't you? You can tell a lot about a person
by the last words that they speak. It's been recorded that Queen
Elizabeth on her deathbed made this statement, all my possessions
for another moment of life. She couldn't buy another moment
of life. The last words speak volumes about a man, don't they?
The last words of David. These be his last words. Although
my house be not so with God, yet he has made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things and sure. This is all my salvation
and all my desire, though he make it not to grow. What glorious
words. David was expressing his hope
in the covenant promises of his God, and in the fulfilling work
of the Lord Jesus Christ, making all those promises sure. The
scripture says that all the promises of God are yea and amen in Christ. That's what the Lord Jesus Christ
came to do, fulfill the promises of God, and he did it. He did
it. David said, this is all my salvation.
I've got no place else to go. This is all my desire. I love it when, uh, when the
Lord fed the 5,000 and, uh, and after feeding them, he said,
you just follow me. So you can have your bellies
full. What a picture of, uh, of man, you know, man using God
to satisfy their fleshly desires. And, uh, He said, he said, if
you really want to be my disciples, you've got to take up your cross,
deny yourself and follow me. And the scripture says they all
left. They all left. They didn't want to identify
themselves with the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. They weren't
interested in following after him. And the Lord looked to his
disciples and he said, aren't you going to go with them? Will
you leave me also? And what did Peter say? Peter
often spoke impetuously, didn't he? He often stuck his foot in
his mouth, but this is one of the times when Peter said something
wonderful. He said, Lord, where are we going
to go? We didn't choose to follow you.
You caused us to come unto you. You alone have the words of eternal
life. And we know and are sure that
thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. You've shut
us up to your grace. We've got no place else to go.
Salvation is never a choice. It's never a decision. The only
time a person will ever come to Christ is when he's made to
come to Christ. If you or I have a choice between
the Lord Jesus Christ and anything else, we will choose something
else. We'll always choose something else. We'll always choose against
God. God has to take away all our
choices and shut us up to Christ. And that's the new birth. That's
the work of the Holy Spirit. And we say with our brother Peter,
thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. We know, we
know that you've accomplished everything that the Father sent
you to do. I was talking to a Jewish lady in our city some time ago,
and she was expressing to me the hypocrisy of her Jewish friends
who were pretending to live by the law. And she said, I know
they don't live by the law. She knew enough of God's law. She said, as a matter of fact,
nobody can live by God's law. And I said, you're right, except
one. And she looked at me immediately
and she said, you're right. And the difference between you
and me is you think he's already come and I'm still waiting on
him. I mean, here's a Jewish lady in the 21st century that
knew what Christ meant. She knew what the Messiah would
do. You remember that woman at the
well, when she tries to debate with the Lord about where to
worship, you know, by our father said, we should worship here
on Gerizim, and you say in Jerusalem, and the Lord said, no, no, the
fathers seek at them will worship him in spirit and in truth. And
she said, when the Lord exposed her, she said, well, we know
that when Messiah comes, he'll lead us into all truth. We know
that. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
Messiah. He's the anointed one. He actually
fulfilled and accomplished everything the Father sent him to. He's
not frustrated. He's not he's not in the heavens
wringing his hands wishing men would let him have his way He
actually fulfilled everything the father sent him to do he
satisfied the demands of the law He put away the sins of his
people. He accomplished the salvation
of everyone that he died for on Calvary's cross What a what
a glorious successful Savior we have When are we saved? We're saved in election. We're
saved in redemption. We're saved in regeneration. When God causes us to look on
the Lord Jesus Christ as the successful Redeemer that He is. But it doesn't end there. It
doesn't end there. The scripture says, as you received
Christ Jesus, the Lord. Now that's our regeneration.
That's our, that's the new birth. How does a believer receive the
Lord Jesus Christ? He receives Him as a mercy beggar,
doesn't he? He receives Him as the Savior.
As you receive Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him. Peter speaks of our salvation.
He says, to whom you are coming. We never graduate beyond needing
the Lord Jesus Christ. as our substitute, as our sin-bearer,
and as our Savior, as our surety before God. A surety is one who
provides everything necessary. And what does the child of God
do? He continues to walk the same way he was saved. Lord,
he cries out to the Father, look to thy Son for everything you
require of me. Look to Him for everything you
require of me. Listen to Isaiah chapter 64 verse
5. Well, as a matter of fact, just
turn back with me there. I want you to see this. Isaiah
chapter 64. Verse 5, Thou meetest him that
rejoiceth and worketh righteousness. Those that remember thee in thy
ways, behold, thou art wroth, for we have sinned, and in those
is continuance, and we shall be saved. A sinner never stops being a
sinner, do we? And those is continuance. We're
never able to offer anything to God other than our sin. Genesis chapter 6, the Lord said,
when he looks down from heaven into the hearts of men, he sees
that every imagination of the thoughts of their heart are only
evil, and that continually. We never graduate beyond being
a sinner. Not in the presence of a holy
God. The presence of His holiness,
that's all we are. What did Job say after Elihu
preached the gospel to Job? Job said, behold, behold, I see
something I've never seen before. I am vile. I am vile." Isaiah
said, I'm a man of unclean lips. I live among a people of unclean
lips. I'm undone. What did Peter say after the
resurrection when he met the Lord? Peter said, depart from
me Lord, I'm a sinful man. I'm a sinful man. In those is continuance. Now the The unbeliever will listen
to us talk like this and they say, what are you, advocating
lawless living? Absolutely not. We love God's
law. God's law is holy, God's law
is just, and God's law is good. But we know that God's law doesn't
make us holy. And God's law does not justify
us. And God's law has never made a sinner good. We stand in the
presence of a holy God as a sinner in those is continuance and we
shall be saved. We never see ourselves beyond
a sinner in need of grace. That's sanctification. That's
sanctification. Sanctification we we see and
we as we grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus
Christ I'm asking I'm at trying to answer the question when are
we saved? We have been saved in election.
We have been saved in in redemption. We have been saved in regeneration.
We are being saved every day every day We never we never grow
beyond our need to be saved. I And growing in grace and in the
knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, the more we see of Him, the more
we see of our own sin, don't we? And the more we see of our
need for more grace. More grace. A person who understands
sanctification as being progressive, or sanctification as a person
becoming more and more holy, sanctification is an absolute.
You can't have sanctification by degrees. We, he that sanctifyeth
and they that are sanctified are all as one, whereby he's
not ashamed to call them his brethren. The Lord Jesus Christ
looks upon us and he's, well, the Lord our righteousness, Jeremiah
chapter 23 and Jeremiah chapter 33, and she shall be called the
Lord our righteousness. He gives us His righteousness
and makes us perfect in His sight. Perfect salvation. And we continue
to come to Him as a sinner. Peter put it like this, as newborn
babes desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow
thereby, if so be that you have tasted that the Lord is gracious
to whom you are coming. He didn't say to whom you have
come, to whom you are coming, constantly coming to the Lord
Jesus Christ. So when are we saved? We have
been saved. We are being saved, and oh, the
culmination of our salvation, what a glorious day that'll be.
It doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when
He shall appear, we shall see Him as He is, and be made like
Him. Eye hath not seen, nor has ear
heard, nor has it entered into the imagination of man the things
that God has prepared for us. One day we're going to be without
sin. One day this mortal is going to be made immortal. One day
this corruptible is going to be made incorruptible. One day
we're going to be... Well, look at Isaiah chapter
65. Isaiah chapter 65. And look at verse 17. For behold, I create new heavens
and a new earth, and the former shall not be remembered nor come
to mind. I hear people talking about heaven
as if it's going to be a family reunion. Scripture says we're not going
to know people in heaven like we know them here. Remember those
Pharisees when they came to the Lord and they tried to entrap
him with this impossible scenario? When they said a man had a wife
and he died and gave him to his brother and passed her on down
through the brothers? And then they said, whose wife
is she going to be in the resurrection? And what'd the Lord say? He said,
oh, you do err. Not knowing the scriptures nor
the power of God. You're not going to know your
brethren in heaven like you know them here. It's not possible. You're not going to know anything
like it is here. If you want to rob from me all
the hope of my salvation in glory, just tell me that heaven's going
to be like a family reunion. I've been to family reunions
before. You know, you have too, haven't
you? About just a few hours, all that
you can stand, isn't it? No. He shall not be remembered,
nor even come to mind. We shall be saved." Now, Revelation
chapter 12, verse 10, now has come salvation and strength and
the kingdom of our God. And Peter said in 1 Peter chapter
1, verse 9, You shall receive the end of your faith, even the
salvation of your souls. So when shall we be saved? Turn
with me to 2 Peter. 2 Peter chapter 3. We'll begin reading at verse
12. Looking for and hastening unto
the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens, being on
fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, according to
His promise, look for a new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth
righteousness." Not going to be anything but heaven, in heaven,
but that which is righteous. There's our hope. We shall be
saved. We shall be saved. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that
you look for such things, be diligent that you may be found
of Him in peace and without spot and blameless. How are we going
to be found without spot and blameless? Only as God gives
us faith to look upon the Lord Jesus Christ and trust Him for
all our righteousness before God. all our righteousness. We have no righteousness outside
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what God's saying is, oh,
look to Him for all your righteousness and you'll have hope of knowing
that one day, one day, There will dwell nothing but righteousness. In verse 15, an account that
the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation. It is salvation. Oh, one day that eastern sky
is going to split, one day the trump of God is going to sound,
and those of us which are alive are going to be caught up with
them who are raised. so shall we ever be with the
Lord. And what does, and how does that passage conclude in
Thessalonians? He said, so comfort ye one another
with these words. And what a comfort it is. What
a comfort it is. Romans chapter eight, The Lord
says, Whom he did foreknow, he did also predestinate to be conformed
to the image of his Son. And everyone that he did predestinate
he called, and everyone that he called he justified, and everyone
that he justified he glorified. When are we saved? From election
to glorification, and everything in between is our salvation.
It is our salvation. We're not hanging the hopes of
our salvation on a one-time experience. We're hoping in the Lord Jesus
Christ and His work of redemption, regeneration, election, sanctification,
glorification. What shall we say? If God be
for us, who can be against us? It is God that justifies. It's
God that justifies. Who can condemn us? There is
now therefore no condemnation, no condemnation to them that
are in Christ Jesus. The law's been silenced. The
Lord Jesus Christ has fulfilled it. Sin's been put away. God's
people are saved. They're saved. From everlasting
to everlasting, the work of salvation is a work of God. And we're the
benefactors of it, aren't we? We just rejoice in what He has
accomplished. Alright. Pastor.