I believe the message that I
would like to bring tonight is a message of immense importance. And I want you to pray for me
as I attempt to bring this message. I want you to pray for yourself
that the Lord would give you hearing ears. I've entitled this
message, When is a Man Saved? When is a man saved? And I suppose the first thing
that I should comment on is what does the Bible mean by this term
being saved? Well the scripture that came
to my mind was Matthew chapter 1 verse 21 when the Lord Jesus
is announced as thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save
his people from their sins. If I'm saved, that means I've
been saved from my sins. I've been saved from the penalty
of sin. I've been saved from the power of sin. I've been saved
from the presence of sin in my union with the Lord Jesus Christ.
If I'm saved, that means God's done something for me that I
could not do for myself. And God has done something in
me. that I could not produce myself. Now, when is a man saved? Now, why this title? Because
Paul speaks of a before and an after in this passage of scripture
I just read. Was he saved in verse 13 and
14 when he said, for you've heard of my conversation in times past
in the Jews religion? How that beyond measure I persecuted
the Church of God, and wasted it, destroyed it, and I profited
in the Jews' religion above many mine equals in mine own nation,
being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers." Was he saved then? Well, you
know the answer to that. No, he wasn't. He speaks in 1
Timothy, who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious. He speaks here of times past
before he was saved. Now, he said, you've heard of
my conversation times past in the Jews' religion, and he was
so zealous about what he believed that he felt bound to persecute
those who didn't believe the way he did. He felt it his moral
obligation. He felt it his duty before God
to persecute those who didn't believe the way he did. Look
with me for a moment in Acts chapter 7. This is when they were stoning
Stephen. And they cast him out of the synagogue, out of the
city, verse 58 of Acts chapter 7, and stoned him. Now these
people were mad, weren't they? They wanted this man put to death.
And they, witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's
feet whose name was Saul. Look in chapter 8, verse 1, and
Saul was consenting unto his death. Put him to death, stone
him, throw the rock, kill him. And at that time there was a
great persecution against the church, which was in Jerusalem,
and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea
and Samaria except the apostles. Look at verse 3. As for Saul,
he made havoc of the church, entering into every house and
hailing men and women and committed them to prison. Look in chapter
9, verse 1, and Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter
against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest. He was going to have believers
arrested and put to death. Now, obviously, he was not saved
at this time, was he? He did not know the Lord. He
says in verse 14, I profited in the Jews' religion above many
my equals in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the
traditions of my fathers." Now notice what he was zealous of,
tradition. Not the scripture, not the truth, not the gospel,
but the traditions of men. Verse 15, now that's before he
was saved. Remember, I'm asking the question,
when is a man saved? And I want you and I want myself
to listen to each of these points and see where our thoughts of
our salvation line up with this. Now Paul says in verse 15, but, brought a message a couple of
weeks ago, but the reason for hope, but God, but when it pleased
God. Now here's the reason for hope.
But when it pleased God. Paul, when were you saved? When
it pleased God. That's precisely when I was saved.
when it pleased God. Now I'm going to give you some
reasons as to why an understanding of that is so important in just
a few moments, but let's consider this concept of God being pleased. God the infinite being, the great
I am. God is a person. Yes, he's spirit
and he's a person. And there's something he's pleased
with. And he can be displeased as well. Remember when it said
regarding David, the thing David did, displeased the Lord. Yes, he can be displeased, but
oh, thank God he's pleased. Psalm 115.3 says, Our God is
in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever He pleased. Do you like that? I'm glad it's
that way. I love that. Isaiah 55.11 says,
So shall my word be that goeth out of my mouth. It shall not
return unto me void, but it shall accomplish the thing which I
please. First Samuel 12, 21 says, it
pleased the Lord to make you his people. And Isaiah 53, 10
says, it pleased the Lord to bruise him. Now you think of
that language. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. He hath put him to grief. Isaiah 42 21 says the Lord is
well pleased for his righteousness sake. Matthew 3 17 God said this
is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Notice he didn't say with whom
I'm well pleased but in well-pleased." And that means
if I'm in Him, He's well-pleased with me. Colossians 119 says,
"...it pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell."
First Corinthians 118 says, "...it pleased God that by the foolishness
of preaching. What's going on right now? He
pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe. Oh that God would save somebody
tonight. Hebrews 11 6 says without faith
it's impossible to please Him. Now, seeing everything begins
with, and it pleased God, here's my prayer, my prayer with David
of old. He said in Psalm 40, innumerable
evils have compassed me about. Mine iniquities have taken hold
upon me so that I'm not able to look up. They're more than
the hairs of my head. Therefore, my heart faileth me. Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver
me. Make haste, O Lord, to help me. When I see that all things are
according to His good pleasure, I say, Be pleased, O be pleased,
O Lord, to deliver me. Now we see what a prominent place
that God being pleased to do something has in the Scriptures.
Now Paul says, I was on the road to hell, persecuting the church
of God and wasting it, but When it pleased God. When will you
save, Paul? Give me a time. When has to do
with time, doesn't it? When refers to a point in time. When will you save, Paul? When
it pleased God. When is a man saved? When it pleases God to save him. Now somebody may think, okay,
what's the point? What's the point? Got a point. This completely eradicates the
idea of free will or salvation being an offer. It surely does. This fact that salvation happens
when God is pleased to save, it wipes out any idea of man's
free will or the gospel being an offer that it's up to you
to accept or reject. That's just not so. A man is
saved when it pleases God to save him. Now don't you know,
and I know you do know this if you're saved, when were you saved?
You were saved when it pleased God to save you, weren't you?
You believe that from the very depths of your heart. You know
that. If you're saved, your salvation lines up with this. I was saved
when it pleased God to save me. Now look what he says next in
verse 15. But when it pleased God, and here's the second Point,
this is when a man is saved who separated me from my mother's
womb. When is a man saved? When God
separates him from his mother's womb. He said to Jeremiah, before
I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee. Behold, I've loved you
with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness
have I drawn thee. Now, when was I saved? When I
was separated from my mother's womb, before I had any sense
of consciousness. Before I had any sense of being. before I had a physical being. That's when I was saved. When I was separated from my
mother's womb. Ephesians 4, 6 says, according
as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that
we should be holy and without blame before him. Second Timothy
1, 9 says he saved us. And He called us with a holy
calling. What came first, the saving or
the calling? The saving! He saved us. And He called us
with a 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. Revelation 13, 8, Christ is called
the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Now before there
was a sinner, there was a Savior. And you listen to this real carefully.
And being slain from the foundation of the world, those he was slain
for before the foundation of the world were saved by him before
the foundation of the world. When were you saved? When I was
separated from my mother's womb. You know Hebrews 4.3 says all
the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
Now let me give you three reasons why I love this. What I'm talking
about, I love. And here's the three reasons.
First, because it's true. That's enough of a reason, isn't
it? This is true. But secondly, it's because this
fits the character of God, the eternal, infinite, immutable,
sovereign God. He's eternal. Anything else wouldn't
even make sense. But the third reason I love this
is because it reminds me that salvation has absolutely nothing
to do with my works. This was given me before I had
any works, good or bad. For the children, being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God according to election might stand not of works. That's music to the sinner's
ears. That salvation's not of works, but of him that calleth. When were you saved? Before time
began. You know, one person said this,
the only tenses of salvation that I know anything about are
before time began and right now. I like that. When were you saved,
Paul? Let's go on reading in verse
15. When it pleased God who separated
me from my mother's womb and called me. You know what I've saved? When
He called me. Not before then. I was saved
when He called me. Whom He did predestinate, then
He also He saved us and he called us
with a holy calling. We preach Christ crucified unto
the Jews a stumbling block and unto the Greeks foolishness,
but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks. Christ,
the power of God, and Christ, the wisdom of God. When is a
man saved? When God calls him. And when you're called, you're
called by the gospel. When you're called, you hear
something. And you know what you hear? You hear the gospel. That's what
2 Thessalonians 2 verse 14 says, He called you by our gospel to
the obtaining of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. You hear
the voice of Christ. He calleth his own sheep by name. Turn to John 10 for just a moment.
I want you to see this with me. John chapter 10. Then, verse 24, John 10, 24,
Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long
dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us
plainly. I almost want to laugh when I
read I mean, the Lord never tried to hide anything. I mean, the
way he spoke, but they're trying to say, tell us plainly. Jesus
answered them, verse 25, I told you, and you believe not. The works that I do in my Father's
name, they bear witness of me, but you believe not because you're
not of my sheep. As I said unto you, you know,
nobody can talk that way with the Lord. He said, the reason
you fellows don't believe is you're not of my sheep, just
like I told you. My sheep Hear my voice, and I
know them, and they follow me. I give unto them eternal life,
and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. My Father which gave them me is greater than
all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
I and my Father are one." You see, when he calls, you hear. you hear his voice. Now, I don't
mean you hear his audible voice. Somebody says, whenever somebody
says, Jesus told me this, or the Lord told me that, and they
talk like they're having a conversation, they're lying. They're lying.
Either that, or they've got mental problems. One of the two. They've
not heard his voice in that sense. But you've heard his voice in
an even more powerful way if he's called you. You know it's
his word. Somebody says, well, I don't
hear his voice. Then he's not talking to you. those he speaks to, they
hear his voice in the gospel. My sheep hear my voice. And beloved, when God calls a
man, he calls him with the call of grace. He called me by his grace. You see, the sheep don't respond
to the call of works. They don't. Makes them sick. Upsets them. But how they delight
in the call of grace. But God, who is rich in mercy
for the great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ by grace. you saved? Everybody he calls
responds to the call of grace. Back to our text in Galatians
1, when is a man saved? Well a man saved when it pleases
God. A man is saved when he's separated
from from the womb by God Himself. He's saved before time. A man
is saved when God calls him. A man is saved when God calls
him by His grace. But look what it says next in
our text in Galatians chapter 1, verse 16. Let's read verse
15 and the first phrase of verse 16 together. But when it pleased
God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by
His grace to reveal His Son. When is a man saved? When Christ
is revealed. When Christ is Revealed now we
can't know him unless he reveals himself. Look what Galatians
1 11 and 12 says He says but I certify you brethren that the
gospel which was preached to me is not after man It was not
derived from any human source for I neither received it of
man neither was I taught it but by the what? revelation of Jesus
Christ Now the only way you'll ever know what's going on in
this mind is if I tell you I You can guess, but you can't know. The only way you can know is
if I reveal to you what's going on in my mind. And the only way
you can know Jesus Christ the Lord is if he reveals himself
to you. And when he makes himself known,
you know him. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed. When he makes himself known,
you know him. The Lord said, I know my sheep,
and am known of mine. You know why so many people have
such a superficial view of sin? Because they don't know Christ. If you know Christ, it's going
to change your view of everything. Now, I've said this before, and
I want you to listen to this real carefully. What we believe
is determined by who we believe. You don't get to Christ through
doctrine, but you arrive at your doctrine
through Christ. You don't study this, this, and
this. Aha! I've discovered this is
who He is. You don't get to Christ through
doctrine, but you come to your doctrine through the revelation
of Christ. Now, what do I mean by that? It is impossible to know the
Lord Jesus Christ and not believe that you are
by nature, choice, and practice dead in sins. It's impossible
to know Christ and not believe that God sovereignly chose who'd
be saved. It is impossible to know Christ
and not believe that if He died for you, you must be saved because
of who He is. It's impossible to believe that
He could fail in His intentions. It's impossible to know Christ
and fail to believe that His grace actually saves. It's invincible
and irresistible. It's impossible to know Christ
and not persevere in following Him. You can't do it. My sheep
follow me. The doctrine of grace comes from
the doctor of grace, the Lord Jesus Christ. I was talking to
a pastor friend. He was telling me about something
that happened just last week. He was preaching, and he was
preaching on the fact that if you make God's love universal,
God loves everybody the same, You make God's love meaningless. And after the service, somebody
came up and objected to that. It was a visitor. He said, you
built up a straw man. This is what he said to him.
He said, you built up a straw man and beat him down. And Greg said, explain
to me. I wasn't supposed to say Greg,
sorry. Well, you know who it was now. But whoever it was I was talking
about said, He said, you build up straw men.
He said, explain to me how to build up straw men. What's a
straw man about that? He said, well, I'd have to think about
it. And Greg said to him, here's the deal. Me and you believe
in two different gods. He said, oh, no. No, we believe
the same god. He said, no, we believe two.
And I'm OK with that. We believe in two different gods.
And the fellow, him hauled around, he said, well, he said, It's
not a what, it's a who. It's not a what, it's a who. And the reply was, you can't know the who without
the what. And if you don't have a what, you have a meaningless
who. That statement might sound good,
I've even used it before, but I won't use it anymore because The who is known by the what. And if we leave out the what,
our who is meaningless. A man is saved when Christ is
revealed for who he is. You know, this thing of universal
love. Let me give you an example of
how ridiculous this is. Let's say a young man catches
eyes with a young lady, and there's an instant connection. And all
of a sudden, he feels this is love at first sight. He's so
excited. He thinks, this is my bride.
This is the woman I want to marry. That's happened. I guess I had
it with you in some respects when I was in high school. But
I mean, I knew I wanted to marry her. I looked at her. I wanted
to marry her. Love at first sight. And this young man is so excited
that there's this connection that's taken place. And then
he looks down, looks up, And she's looking at somebody else
like that. All of a sudden that connection
is utterly meaningless. And then she looks at somebody
else like that. And that connection is utter
meaningless. You see this view of God's love
being for everybody and offered to everybody and all that kind
of stuff? Christ's death being for everybody and offered for
everybody and telling people that Christ died for your sins.
I'm telling people, look to Christ. Bow the knee to Him. Look to
Him as your salvation. But universal love and universal
redemption, it's all a denial of the character of God and the
person of Christ. When is a man saved? When Christ
is revealed. But notice what he says next.
I love this. to reveal His Son in me. A man is saved when Christ
is revealed in him. Now what in the world does that
mean? It means this. If you have faith, it didn't
come from you. It came from Christ in you. Don't
you know that so? If you have love for Christ,
that's not the product of your own heart. That's the work of
Christ in you. You know that so because you
know that in your flesh dwells no good thing. You know that.
And you can say with Paul in Galatians 2.20, I live, yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me. and the life that I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me
and gave himself for me. I don't frustrate the grace of
God. I don't make it meaningless. If righteousness came by the
law, then Christ is dead in vain. You see, if Christ is in you,
you worship God in the Spirit. You know it's the Spirit of Christ.
You know the only part of you that worships God is that part
that came from Him, the new man, the new creature in Christ Jesus.
We are the circumcision which worship God in the Spirit. And who worships God in the Spirit?
Those who rejoice in Christ Jesus. There's only one place I rejoice.
It's not in me. It's in the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation in Him. And next, they
have no confidence in the flesh. Anybody who worships God in the
Spirit rejoices in Christ Jesus. Anybody who rejoices in Christ
Jesus has absolutely no confidence in the flesh. Now that's what
it is to have Christ in you. When is a man saved? Let's go
on reading, verse 16, to reveal His Son in me. And when I say
that, every believer knows what that means. That means it's,
my faith doesn't come from me, it comes from Him. Now He doesn't
believe for you, you believe, but it's Him in you. You know
that. He doesn't repent, He doesn't have anything to repent of. But
if you repent, it's Him in you. You know that. You know enough
about yourself to know nothing good could come from your flesh.
It's only Christ in you. the hope of glory. Now let's
go on reading verse 16. When is a man saved? To reveal
when the sun is revealed in me that I might preach him among
the heathen. When is a man saved? A man is
saved when he learns that Christ himself is the message. You got that? A man is saved
when he learns that Christ himself is the message. Christ himself
is the gospel. What must I do to be saved? Well,
you need to quit sinning for one thing, or stop sinning. You need to get your life straightened
out. You need to start reading the Bible. You need to start
praying. You need to start witnessing.
You need to improve. No. What must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. How can I have assurance? Well,
you could have assurance if you quit sinning so much and if your
faith was greater and if you had more love and your life was
better. No, that's a false assurance.
The only assurance there is is Christ only is all that's needed
for my acceptance before God. Christ is all. You learn that's
the message of the scripture. Christ is all. He's all of God.
He's all in the Bible. My soul, He's all to me. He is
all my salvation. Colossians 3.11 Christ is all. A man is saved. when he learns
that Jesus Christ himself is the message. Simeon said, Now
lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, when he was holding
the Lord when he was only eight days old. I don't know what all
he understood, but he said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant
depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. You see, you see Christ. You've
seen God's salvation. You've seen the Father. He said,
he that has seen me has seen the Father. A man is saved when
he really believes that Christ himself is the gospel message. And here's my last point. Verse
16. Let's read verses 15 and 16 together. But when it pleased God, who
separated me from my mother's womb and called me by his grace
to reveal his son in me that I might preach him among the
heathen, immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood." When
is a man saved? When he has no need to confer
with flesh and blood. You see, I don't need to ask
you about what I just said. I don't need to make sure it's
okay with you. I don't need any affirmation
from men to believe what I've just said. I don't need to back
it up with theology books. I don't need to back it up with
church fathers or Dr. So-and-so or this preacher or
that preacher. No. You see, we speak what we
know. We know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are called
according to his purpose. We know that. I know that in
me, that is in my flesh dwelleth no good things. We know that
the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. We know that whatsoever things
the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law, that
every mouth may be stopped, and all the world stand guilty before
God. You see, we don't need to confer
with flesh and blood. We speak what we know. That's
what the Lord said. We speak that which we know and testify
to what we've seen. I gave the preacher's class this
Saturday. I want to close with this. How
do I know the gospel I preach is the gospel. How do I know? Well, number one, because the
gospel I preach lines up with the Old Testament scriptures.
The gospel is how that Christ died for our sins according to
the scriptures. Now, the gospel I preach lines
up with the Passover, the Day of Atonement. We're giving the
whole Old Testament to check out and see if the gospel we
preach is the truth. Secondly, the gospel I preach
gives God all the glory and none goes to man at all. How do I know that the gospel
I preach is the gospel? Because this message demonstrates
how God can be just. and justify the ungodly. God said in Exodus 34, I'll by
no means clear the guilty. Only our gospel tells how that
can be so, how that can be so, how he can by no means clear
the guilty and clear the guilty. Oh, what a glorious gospel. Fourth, I know the gospel, I preach as
the gospel, is because it meets the sinner, not where he ought
to be, but where he is, dead in sin and gives life. I know that my gospel is the
gospel of God and I don't need to confer with flesh and blood
about this because this gospel gives hope to the very chief
of sinners. You cannot be too bad or too
sinful to be saved. Six, I know my gospel is the
gospel because it's a gospel I can die with. I can face death and judgment
and know that all God requires of me I have in Christ. The sin
question has been completely taken care of and I stand before
God without guilt. Now I can die with that. Can
you die with the gospel you believe? Seventh, I know my gospel is
the gospel because my gospel is the gospel I preach. meets
every need that I have, which are many, but the gospel answers
and meets every one of those needs. And last, I know my gospel
is the gospel, and I don't need to confer with flesh and blood
about this, because my gospel saves. By grace, you are saved. Now when is a man saved? when
it pleases God to save him, when he's separated from his
mother's womb by God, when he's called, when he's called by grace,
when Christ is revealed in him and he comes to know that
Christ himself is the message. and he didn't need to confer
with flesh and blood. He knows this is the gospel. Now, let me tell you what I conclude
from that. I love this conclusion. If that
is when a man is saved, I'm saved. Let's pray. Lord, take this word and bless
it to your glory and our good. And Lord, I ask in Christ's name
that it would please you to save every one of us. Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver
us. Lord, make haste to help us. And Lord, how we thank you that
everything is according to your glorious good pleasure. I bless
the word for Christ's sake, in his name we pray. Amen. It's a good one.