You know, grace doesn't really mean very
much to anyone until that point that he realizes he's been included
in it. And that is everything. His song's about that. Before the love began, God loved
me then. He chose me for His own. I am here, O God. His rich eternal love brought
my name upon The God in wondrous grace, He
came and took my soul. He died upon a tree to set me
free. Yes, he included me from eternity To boast have I no loss in time. But God in goodness grace, He
came and took my place. Thank God He indeed came. In time the Spirit sought, and
grace was bought. He took the Word of God, the
Mighty One. He broke my stony heart, and
it fell. He included me. Yes, He included
me from eternity. No room to boast about, no loss at all. But God, in all His grace, He
gave and took me my place. Thank God He included me. I appreciate the talent that God
gives different ones. And I appreciate equally as much,
if not more so, the songs they choose to sing. God's enlightened
saints will sing songs that will give God all the praise and all
the glory. Thank you, brother, I appreciate
that. Once again, we introduce Brother Don Fortner, pastor of
Grace Baptist Church in Danville, Kentucky. His health is not the
best, but as my brother Joe Terrell said, you'll probably preach
your own funeral. God bless you. Thank you, brother. Maybe not too soon. Thankful for you, for this congregation,
and for your love and care for Shelby and myself these many,
many years. I know some of you are concerned
for my health. I'm actually doing all right.
I just, in recent years, have had some difficulties and had
to start taking some blood pressure medicine because I had heart
surgery. And doctors When they do heart
surgery, from that day forward, they want every breath to be
exactly the same. No variation at all. So I take
a little bit of blood pressure medicine and when I get up quickly,
I get a little faint. Hard to imagine anything as big
as I am getting fainted. But I get a little faint and
a couple of weeks ago I sat up in bed quickly and got a little
strangled and started to cough and passed out and fell out of
bed and hit my head. That didn't hurt anything. My
head's too hard. But the day before yesterday I got up quickly
and tried to cough. I got up because I had to cough.
And when I did, I passed out and fell on an armchair out of
the bed and cracked a couple of ribs. I'm sore. That's contrary to popular opinion. Shelby didn't kick me out. I
fell out. I've been a little sore, but
I'm all right. I appreciate your concern. Hebrews chapter 4. Hebrews chapter 4. Let us therefore fear, lest a
promise being left us of entering into His rest, any of you should
seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached
as well as unto them." Talking about those Old Testament believers,
those, I'm sorry, not believers, those Old Testament people of
Israel who left out of Egypt. Unto us the gospel was preached
as well as unto them. But the word preached did not
profit them, those who died in the wilderness. Not being mixed
with faith. in them that heard it. The word
did not profit them, because God didn't give them faith. The word did not profit them,
because they did not believe what they heard. For we which
have believed do enter into rest, true Sabbath rest, ceasing from
our own works. As he said, as I have sworn in
my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest, although the works
were finished from the foundation of the world. Although the works
were finished from the foundation of the world. My subject tonight
is done from eternity. done from eternity. God the Holy Spirit here tells
us that all the works of grace by which believing sinners are
brought into the blessed rest awaiting us at last in heavenly
glory were finished from the foundation of the world. That
is to say, all the works of God's free grace, all God's salvation
in Christ Jesus, all that sinners come to experience in time by
God's grace, were finished from the foundation of the work. Imagine that. Done from eternity. Nikolai Alexandrenko was a Russian
paratrooper during the Second World War. He was raised under
Stalin, a staunch communist. When the Germans invaded Russia,
he was sent to defend his homeland. And Lieutenant Alexandrico and
the men under his command were gunned down by the Germans before
they hit the ground. As the bullets pierced his body,
he realized that death was imminent. The men under his command were
slaughtered. He was taken to an infirmary,
patched up, and left to die. But he didn't die. He gradually
began to recover. Sometime later he tried to start
a fire and he took a piece of paper and tried to light it,
light a fire, but the paper wouldn't burn. He started to throw it
away. But something caught his eye.
Some words written on the paper. He had never seen anything like
it before. The words they read, the very
first words he read on that piece of paper that would not burn
were these. For God so loved the world that he gave his only
begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life. He continued to read that piece
of paper. It was a gospel tract. And he
read the other scriptures and the comments printed on the tract.
And in time, God gave that man faith. in Jesus Christ. He later made his way to this
country, went to New Orleans Baptist Seminary, graduated. 1992, he went back to the Ukraine
to teach others the gospel. I could tell you many such stories.
That's when George Whitefield was preaching as was common in
those days and preaching, had those meetings in open air and
other places. Whitefield was preaching in a
chapel on this occasion and some young men came in just to jeer
him, just to talk and make fun of him. But when they came in,
God spoke by his servant. And the
two young men who came in to poke fun at the preacher went
out praising the preacher's savior, worshiping God our Redeemer.
One night, oh, how long ago has it been now? I was in Australia,
preaching in Newcastle, Australia. Father Don McMurray was the pastor
of the Church of Newcastle. A little chapel about, oh, maybe
the size of this middle section here. It was packed. The windows
were open, folks outside, front doors were open, and I was preaching.
And I saw this fellow run by. I can't remember the year, but
I'll get you close. It was in that day when folks,
men wore hairdos, looked like they had stuck their finger in
a light socket. This fella ran by jogging. And then I saw him
run back by the other way just a little bit, a little slower.
And then I saw him walk up and sit down on the front stoop. God got him. We read about things like this,
Nicolai Alexandrico, These others say God moves in a mysterious
way, His wonders to perform. Those are amazing stories, aren't
they? How God wisely and graciously rules and overrules the affairs
of the world and of men's lives to bring them to faith in Jesus
Christ. Let me tell you something you
may not realize, and I'm certain you do not think of often enough. For every one of you here who
believes God, the story is just as amazing. God Almighty created this world
and rules this world and all things in it absolutely all the
time everywhere for the saving of His people. Did you get that? God rules the
universe for the saving of His people. So infinite, so great, so glorious
is our God in His being God. We can't begin to imagine it.
But the Lord God rules everything at one time personally for each
of His own. and collectively for all his
own, for the salvation of our souls. We know, Paul said, that
all things work together for good to them that love God, to
them who are the called according to his purpose. Turn back to
Romans chapter 8 again with me tonight if you will. God's great purpose of grace
in Jesus Christ is that which God has done from
eternity. Now, contrary to popular opinion,
the God of this book is a God of purpose. Absolute unalterable purpose. All things that come to pass
in time, God purposed in eternity. And nothing comes to pass in
time that God did not purpose in eternity. I don't like that. Take it up with God. I'm just
here to tell you who he is. God rules. Either God rules everywhere
or God rules nowhere. Either God rules everything or
God rules nothing. That's all there is to it. There
can't be any in between granted. Everything in the world comes
to pass according to God's sovereign, unalterable, all-inclusive, sure
purpose. As God's purpose is absolute,
so God's grace is absolute and unconditional. The scriptures
are crystal clear, declaring to us The salvation
is entirely God's work. Nowhere in the book of God is
salvation anywhere attributed to, conditioned upon, or determined
by man's works, man's will, or man's worth. Every aspect of
God's saving grace is the work of God alone. So then it is not
of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that
showeth mercy. These days I like to brag about
man's will. Man's will. I don't just watch
much TV. And what I do is usually on Fox
News Channel. So I'll give you some idea about
my work personality. But I watch Bill O'Reilly occasionally. He's a patentist. He's a smart
fellow. He doesn't know a thing about
religion, though. He's a smart fellow. He doesn't know a thing
about God. He's a smart fellow. But he's a patentist. And he
says, I believe in free will. What's so astounding about that?
I don't know many folks who don't. Free will? What's free about
man's will? What fool ever dreamed of such
a thing? Free will? Our friend, Brother Scott Richardson,
used to say, I'll grant you that man's will is just as free as
a frog in a snake's belly. He can jump around all he wants
to, he just can't get out. Your will is bound by your nature.
And your nature's sin, corruption, and depravity. And on top of
all that, of the one thing specific the Scriptures declare salvation
cannot be attributed to, it's your will. That's the one specific
thing the Scriptures declare it cannot be. It is not of him
that willeth. Does anybody have any trouble
understanding that? It is not of him that willeth. Grace is
never spoken of in this book as God's response to man's choice,
but just the opposite. According to the book of God,
the believer's faith in Christ is the result of God's eternal
choice of him in Christ Jesus. Grace is not conditioned upon
faith. Faith is conditioned upon grace. Our salvation is not accomplished
by our faith. Our faith in Christ is part of
the package of God's salvation freely given to us in Christ
Jesus. Grace is unmerited favor. Grace is God's sovereign, eternal,
free favor to sinners who fully deserve His wrath and everlasting
damnation. Here in the book of Romans, in
chapter 8, the apostle Paul, writing by divine inspiration,
has been telling us about what God's done for us by His grace.
He begins by telling us that God has, by His grace, through
the redemption that's in Christ Jesus, delivered us from all
condemnation and all possibility of condemnation. There's therefore
now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk
not after the flesh, but after the spirit. And then he tells
us what this walking by the spirit is. It is life in the spirit. That life Brother Joseph has
been talking to us about, that life that God's given us in Christ
Jesus. He tells us that he's given us
his spirit. given us life by the Spirit,
given us life in the Spirit, which gives us the blessed hope
of resurrection glory, in which we, with all creation, groan,
waiting for the redemption of these bodies, the resurrection
of the body, when God makes all things new. And then the apostle
speaks of this wondrous declaration of God's providence, in verse
28. We know that all things work together for good to them that
love God. To them who are thee called. Now that's the limitation and
that's the extent. All things work together for
good, but not to everybody. I recall several years ago, I
called Brother Joe, chatted just a little bit, and I had some
new faces come to services. You may not remember it, I remember
it well. He said, I always wonder, when I see a new face come in,
did God send them here to save them or to damn them? And I promise you, if God has
spoken to you tonight by his word, and if he speaks by this
man who's now preaching to you, it will either be to your everlasting
benefit or your everlasting ruin. There's no in-between ground.
All things work together for good to them that love God. to them that love God. By nature, we hate God. By nature, our carnal minds are
enmity against God. By nature, if we could, we'd,
every one of us, take God off his throne, choking to death,
and set ourselves up as God. That's our nature. But God's
caused something to happen. He put a new life in us. A life and a nature born of God
that loves God. Who's that? Them who are thee
called. The called ones. The called ones. Called by grace. Called by grace
to believe on the Son of God. called by grace to life in fellowship
with God, called by grace to everlasting glory, thee called,
called God with mighty irresistible efficacy, thee called, thee called. Mike just sang for us again. You were at Adventist, weren't
you? If I remember correctly. And God called him. There was
a time you hated the God I'm talking about. Revenge is all
get out, but hated God. Hated God. And then suddenly
you found yourself believing God. Isn't that amazing? Isn't that just amazing? You
came in here tonight, with no faith and no desire for it. Maybe you came in desiring, maybe
somehow God do something for you, but you just could not believe
and then suddenly something happened. And you can't help it, you just
believe. You find yourself believing God. How come? You've been called. You've been
called. Called by grace divine. Grace that sweetly forces us
into the arms of our Savior. To them who are thee called according
to His purpose. His purpose. Boy, now that's
deep theology. Let's get a concordance and do
a word study. Let's find out what this means
in the Greek. You'll be doing pretty good if
you find out what it means in the English. And that won't be
too hard if you just read the next two verses. What's God's purpose? For whom
he did foreknow He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of his son, that he, his son, the Lord Jesus, might be the
firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
then he also called. Now that word called, I'll show
you in just a minute, but lest I should slip up and forget as
I want to do in these years. That's a different word. This
word doesn't mean the same as it does in verse 28. Not the
same word at all. Verse 28 talks about being called
to Christ. Being called to life. Being called
by the irresistible power and grace of God. This word called
means named. Named. Whom He did predestinate,
then He also named. And whom He named, then He also
justified. And whom He justified, then He
also glorified. Now let's focus tonight on verses
28 and 29. In these two verses, we have the
Holy Spirit's commentary on verse 28. Here He explains what it
is that he means by according to his purpose. Our experience
of grace in time, our experience of grace in time is the result
of God's accomplishment of our salvation in eternity according
to his purpose. Our experience of grace in time
is the result of God's accomplishment of our salvation in eternity
according to his purpose. Let's see how he states it. We
know that all things work together for good To them that love God,
to them who are the called, according to his purpose, for, that is,
because, whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate. Now be sure you notice the tense. In our English translation, it's
in the past tense, and that's good enough, but I like to impress
people with how much I know. In the Greek, that's the aorist. Now that's a $10 word from a
50 cent preacher, so let me explain what that means. That which was
done at one time in the past with no other limitation. and
no other implication. That's the earnest. Done at one
time in the past. What does Ecclesiastes 3.14 say? Whatsoever God doeth, he does
it forever, and nothing can be put to it, and nothing taken
from it, so that men might know he's God. That which is done
in the past at one time Fully accomplished. Nothing can be
added to it. Nothing can be taken from it.
That's the language Paul's using here. That's the language he
was inspired of God to use. It's in the past, done from eternity. And the first thing he mentions
is foreknowledge. Now, if you've ever tried to
talk to anyone religious about God's election, and they have
a little bit of knowledge of the Bible, they'll Go to 1st
Peter 1 verse 2 and say we elect according for knowledge of God
the Father. And they'll garl and spit it
at you and say they're elections because God looked out from eternity
and he saw that you would believe on Jesus so he chose you. Nothing
could be further from the truth. For one thing that will make
God's choice dependent on yours. Makes God hang on you. That makes
God's purpose dependent on what God foresaw you would do or you
would be. And that makes you ruler over
God rather than God ruler over you. That makes salvation to
be your work and not God's work. And makes God take credit for
something God didn't do. But that's not what Peter is
talking about. The word for knowledge with God
is not an attribute of God. Please write this down so you'll
not forget it. For knowledge is not a divine
attribute. It is not a divine attribute.
Omniscience is a divine attribute. God knows everything. That's God's attribute. God's
for knowledge is God's act. There's a big difference. There's
a big difference between an attribute and an act. Foreknowledge is
something God has done. Omniscience is part of what God
is. God's foreknowledge then, first
of all, is his foreordination. Peter tells us also that Christ
Jesus verily was the Lamb who verily was foreordained before
the foundation of the world. And the same word translated
foreordained in 1 Peter 1.20 is the word translated foreknowledge
in 1 Peter 1.2. Foreknowledge then first means
to foreordain. Our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God our Father. Foreknowledge always refers to
people, not things. God foreknew you. He just foreknew
about you. He foreknew you. Foreknowledge
refers to people, not things. Never does the scripture speak
of God foreknowing something would happen. God foreknew his
people in Christ Jesus. Foreordained us unto life everlasting
in Jesus Christ our Lord. So foreknowledge is God's determination
to save us. Secondly, foreknowledge speaks
of God's everlasting love. I have loved thee with an everlasting
love, therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee. The Lord God
knew us in Christ before the world was. He says concerning
the wicked on his left hand in the day of judgment, depart from
me you cursed, I never knew you. Well why is he going to damn
him if he didn't know anything about him? Why does he fix the syndrome to hell
if he didn't know who they were? That's absurd. Of course he knew
everything about them, but he never knew them. He never knew
them. You, who are his, he knew from
eternity. Knew you in his son. Embraced
you in his son. Loved you with everlasting love
in his son. foreknowledge also speaks of
God's approval. In Psalm 1 verse 6, listen to
this. The Lord knoweth the way of the
righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish. But doesn't God know the way
of the ungodly? Does he know about it? Yeah.
Does he approve of it? No. But when the scripture says
he knows the way of the righteous, he approves of it. The Lord God
Almighty, Jesse Gustan, approved of you in Christ before the world
began. Accepted in the beloved. And
that never changes. That never changes. So that God
from eternity looks on us in his son, ordains us to life everlasting,
approves of us, accepts us in his son, and foreknowledge also
has the idea of everlasting eternal safety and security. The Lord
knoweth them that are his. What a foundation. What a seal. The Lord knoweth them that are
his. When our daughter was a little
girl, I guess she was probably maybe four or five years old
before she found out that I didn't have absolute control of everything.
It takes them a little while. But when she was a little girl,
all she had to hear me say concerning anything is I know. I know. I know. That means dad'll take
care of it. It's alright. Dad knows. He'll take care of it. Before the world began, the Lord
God put a hedge around me. And said to all of hell, don't
touch him, he's mine. He's mine. He hedged us about
with his grace. Hedged us about, put a wall around
us. protect and keep us through all
the ages of mankind, through all the turbulence of the world,
through all the turbulence of our own lives, He hedged us about
from eternity. Think of it. If you're a child
of God, if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you were known
of God from eternity. Loved and chosen owned and approved
of, accepted and secured in Christ according to His eternal purpose
of grace. "'Tis not that I did choose thee,
for, Lord, that could not be. This heart would still refuse
thee, hast thou not chosen me. My heart owns none before thee,
for thy rich grace I thirst. this knowing if I love thee thou
must have loved me first look at the next word predestinate
whom he did foreknow then he also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of his son that he might be the firstborn among
many brethren now predestination Contrary to popular opinion,
is not a cuss word. That's a good word. It's all
right to say, predestinate. Can you pronounce that? Predestinate. Good word. Talk about it every
time you get a chance to. Predestinate. Well, that makes
people mad. More reason to say it. Predestinate. Predestinate. whom he did foreknow,
then he also did predestinate. He predestinated us to be conformed
to the image of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. God Almighty,
before the world was, purposed to make us like our Savior, that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Conformed to Christ's
image. Our salvation, when it is finished,
will be just that. Conformed to Christ's image. Conformed to Christ's image. Now that conformity is certainly
a climactic conformity. In the new birth, Christ is formed
in us, as our brother just told us. We're made partakers of the
divine nature. That's a climactic conformity.
This conformity to Christ is also a gradual conformity. We
conform to the image of our Savior in the day-by-day experience
of his grace, as we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord
Jesus Christ. We don't get more sanctified.
We don't get more holy. We don't get more righteous.
We know better than that. That's God's free gift. And even
growing in the grace and knowledge of our Redeemer is not the result
of our exercise. It's the result of God's free
grace. And by the power of His Spirit
dwelling in us, by the power of His Word working in us, and
by the loving nurture and discipline of our Heavenly Father, He causes
us to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Savior. But this conformity
is not something we perceive in ourselves. I'm not looking for what to say.
I want you to hear what I've got to say. This conformity is not something
we perceive in ourselves. It's real. We are by the operation
of God's grace working in us, made more submissive to our Father's
will, and yet we repent of our rebellion
against it. We're made more patient through
suffering, and yet Repent of our impatience. I was reminded today by the A.D. Muse. He was a pastor at Harts
Harbor Tabernacle in Louisville, Kentucky in the 40s and 50s as
a rescue mission. And he and another preacher were
going somewhere to a meeting and had an automobile accident. And
the muse looked over at him and asked if he was hurt. He said,
well, maybe, but God's sovereign enough and we'll be thankful.
That's not usually my first response to anything. God forgive me. We grow more
patient, but our impatience, how horrid. We grow to love our
God, but our lack of love for Him
breaks our hearts. We grow to believe God, but our
own belief is inexcusable. And then there's the consummate
end of our salvation, and it shall be consummate conformity
to Jesus Christ made exactly as he is in all
his perfect glorious humanity made exactly as he is in divine
sovereign predestination God eternally and immutably determined
who he would save, how he would save them, and when. He determined the time and the
place. And then he sovereignly arranged
everything necessary to accomplish that purpose. And began working
it out. For eternity. He sovereignly
arranged everything necessary for the saving of his people.
And in his providence, he works it out. Now God's great design
in this is that his son, the Lord Jesus, might be the firstborn
among many brethren. The firstborn. You remember back
in the book of Exodus? Moses with regard to the law
in Exodus chapter 13 verse 2 the firstborn shall be mine the firstborn
whether you're talking about sheep or ashes the firstborn
is mine whether you're talking about men or goats the firstborn
is mine God said the firstborn and then he described the firstborn
everyone that openeth the womb Well, most of us are grown-ups and
you know that the womb is not opened in conception. I'm sorry,
the womb is not opened in birth. It's opened in conception. Except
for one woman's womb. Our Lord Jesus came into this
world and opened his mother's womb when he said, Lo, I come
to do thy will. Oh, my God, the virgin born son
of God. He's the firstborn. The firstborn
is the one who has control of the family. The firstborn is
the one who raises up the children of the one that's dead. The firstborn
is the one that's the head of the family. The firstborn is
the one after whom all the family is named. The firstborn is the
preeminent one. That's Christ Jesus our Lord.
The firstborn among many brethren. Many brethren. Vast beyond imagination
is the host of God's election, more than all the sands of oceans,
more than all the stars of heaven. Here they seem a small assembly,
weak and poor and ever needy. But when all are brought to heaven,
what a mighty congregation, mighty through the Lamb they conquer.
Lord, let me be in that number, fixed in your predestination.
Savior, grant me your salvation. That's divine predestination. Now look at the third word, called. Called. I told you earlier, this word
is not the word that's used if we were to invite somebody to
dinner. It's not the word that would be used if you were to
call your children in because it's getting dark. It's not the
word that you would use to invite somebody to go with you on a
trip. That's not the word. The word that's used here means
to name. Adam, what do you call that? I call it a lion. It's
named a lion. What did you call your child? I called him Don. Where did that lady go whose
name was number one? I just met a lady who just started coming
here. There she is, the number one. I said, Daddy must have
been proud of her, named her one. That's the word named. Named. Behold, what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed on us. that we should be named the sons
of God. He named us his sons from eternity. Adopting us in everlasting love,
named us his. And beloved, now are we the sons
of God. We've come to experience it in
time, but we were named his sons from eternity. God declares That
here that we experience in time to have been done for us in eternity. I remind you, the words are all
in the past. They're all aorist verbs. They all speak of what God did
at one time for us without our aid before the world began. We
were foreknown and predestinated and called, named as the very
sons and daughters of God Almighty. You see, God declares that which
he is going to do, done, from everlasting, and then he does
it. In Romans 8, 28, Paul tells us
that God rules the universe according to his purpose. In verse 29,
he tells us that God's purpose of grace is our absolute conformity
to Jesus Christ. And in verse 30, he tells us
it's all done. Done from eternity. Done from
everlasting. Now the text speaks of this call,
naming us the sons of God by God's eternal decree. Then he
says, we're justified. Justified. 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,
then he also justified. Now a lot of you are too young
to remember how applicable this illustration is, but there are
enough bald heads and gray heads in here, most of you will. Back
years ago, before the age of computers, do you know how we
justify the right-hand margin? I'd write out our bulletin articles,
and then my dear wife would type them out. And then she would
count out the spaces on this end and find out how many extra
spaces it would take to match up with the other side. And she'd
go back and space them out. And then she would type it on
a stencil and hope the stencil didn't get torn up right at the
very end. When she got done, it'd start
all over again. And that's how you would make this side. I would make this side exactly
the same proportion as that side. Now all you do is hit that button
that says justify, and it's done. But this is it. Here's the standard. Here's the finished work. The
standard is God. Be ye holy, for I am holy. walk before me and be thou perfect. It must be perfect to be accepted. That's justified. Justified. So that here is God's holy law. God's holy character. God's perfect
being. Absolute perfection. And this
is what he made me in Christ. Justified. Justified. And he did it before the world
began. Now if you can get a hold of
this, it'll put a hallelujah in your soul. Before ever we sinned against God, our sins
were cancelled. Before ever we incurred any debt,
our debt was paid. Before the curse was ever brought
upon us, the curse was removed. The law of God was mended before
it was broken. Justice was satisfied before
it was offended. We were justified in Christ before
we fell in our father Adam. We were accepted in Christ before
we were banished in Adam. Accepted into beloved from eternity. Redemption's work was done. Done from everlasting. Because
Christ, the Lamb of God, is the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. Now I know folks have some objection
to this. I happen to know there was a
fellow who wrote to your pastor a few years ago and said you
do know that Brother Fortner doesn't believe the death of
Christ was necessary for our salvation. That is what he said,
wasn't it? Well, the liar knew better. And
I didn't say that just now, I told him that. The fact is those things
accomplished in time were done in eternity according to what
the book says. God didn't justify us on credit. He didn't justify us on a promissory
note. He justified us by the sacrifice
of his son from everlasting. Were we accepted in the beloved? Were we accepted in the beloved
or not? If we were, then we're accepted as righteous. If we
were, we were accepted as justified. If we were, we were accepted
as sanctified. If we were, we were accepted
as his son from eternity. But you think about the consequences
of saying otherwise. More than that, this is what
the book says. Justified. We might say, Thomas
Goodwin wrote, and I don't think I know who's writing, we might
say concerning all of God's works, all spiritual blessings in Christ,
what was said of Christ himself, that his goings forth are from
everlasting. God, our Savior, is our Savior
from everlasting to everlasting. We were given life in him who
is life from everlasting. God has saved us and called us
with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. Justified. And then the apostle
tells us glorified. Glorified. Oh. whom he justified, them he also
glorified. I can't say much about that now
because I don't know much about it. But I'll tell you this. Glorification is exactly the
opposite of condemnation. God removed the guilt of sin
from us in justification. And he shall free us from all
the evil consequences of sin in glorification. Brother Cho last night said, We're going to know that we sinned.
No question about that. We couldn't say, we couldn't
be thankful for it. We didn't know we couldn't. But have no evil consequence
as a result of it. Imagine that. No evil consequence. No, no, how can I say this and not be
misunderstood? and yet be understood. Oh God, keep me from being a hypocrite
here. My sin breaks my heart. But when God's done, it'll no
longer break my heart. deliverance from sin and all
its evil consequences in blessed glorification. Did you ever wonder what glorified
saints look like? Did you ever wonder? Sonny, are you looking here?
Look right here. You look at it, what? You look at it, what? Oh, you
don't look very glorified to me. Me either. But God sees me in His Son. Because that's my real existence. That's my real life. Christ is mine and I'm his. He's one with me and I'm one
with him. And God can no more see evil
in me than he can see evil in his son. He can no more charge
me with sin than he can charge his son with sin. He can no more
damn me than he can damn his son. For his son took away all
my sin on the curse tree. And this he did from eternity. Oh, brother Don. Would to God
I could go home tonight with confidence that this salvation
is mine? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and this salvation is yours. This salvation is yours. Believe
Him. Believe Him. Oh God give you
grace to believe Him. Amen.