I did choose the Lord Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Neiberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nibert. I'm speaking this morning on
this subject, the results of foreknowledge and predestination. Beginning in verse 29 of Romans
chapter 8, Paul says, for whom he did foreknow, not what he
foreknew, but whom he did foreknow. Foreknowledge means loved beforehand,
known beforehand. God said to Jeremiah, before
I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee. He hath loved us with an
everlasting love. He said, behold, I've loved you
with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness
have I drawn you. Foreknowledge is not God being
a time traveler, looking down through the telescope of time
and seeing what's going to happen and him responding to that. No,
God never responds. There's no sequence of events
with God. I don't understand this. I just
believe it. God's God. He foreknows. 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. Now, everyone that God foreknew
or foreloved, He predestinated to be perfectly conformed to
the image of Christ. glorious predestination. There are people who say, well,
I don't believe in predestination. Then you don't believe the Bible
then, because the Bible certainly teaches predestination. All of
God's elect have been predestinated, predetermined by God to be just
like Christ. Now, that is the truth regarding
foreknowledge and predestination, but what are the results of foreknowledge
and predestination. Let's go on reading. Verse 30. 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 there we have the results
of foreknowledge and predestination, calling, justification, and glorification. And let me say right off the
bat, these are not spoken of as future events. They're spoken
of as having already taken place. That's very important. Those
He predestinated, He called, past tense. Those He called,
He justified, past tense. Those He justified, He glorified,
past tense. It's already been accomplished.
This is not prophetic. It's all historic. Now, let's
consider each of these three glorious results of foreknowledge,
God's foreknowledge and predestination. whom he did predestinate, them
he also called. And this is talking about the
call of God. I won't call on him unless he
first calls me. And this is the call of his purpose. Romans 8.28 says, and we know
that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to his purpose. In our experience, salvation
begins with Him calling us. Now, it was purposed in predestination,
but we experience it in time when He calls us. Now, this call is not some kind
of general call given to all men. This is His call to His
elect. This is His call to His people. You know, we can't come unless
He calls us. John chapter 6 verse 44 says,
No man can come to me. These are the words of the Lord.
No man can come to me except the Father which has sent me
draw him. I must be called of God. I must
be drawn to God by His Spirit, by Himself. This call had been
determined in eternity. Listen to this scripture, Romans
9, 11, 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, but of him that calleth. You either believe in his invincible,
irresistible call, or you believe in salvation by works, one of
the two. Not of works, but of him that calleth. It's called
in the scripture a high calling, a holy calling, and a heavenly
calling. Now, this call is a sovereign
call. Mark 3.13 says, he calleth whom
he would. It wasn't some general call to
all men. He calleth whom he would. Now, what is the voice we hear
when we hear him call? Because if we're ever saved,
we'll be called by God himself. Now, what is the voice we hear
when we are called? 2 Thessalonians 2.14 says, he
called you by our gospel. He calls by the gospel. You're called when you hear the
gospel with hearing ears. When you hear the gospel. Which makes me ask the question,
what is the gospel? I know I haven't been called
of God if I do not know what the gospel is. What is the gospel? Now listen real carefully. Paul
said, moreover I declare unto you the gospel. He said in 1
Corinthians chapter 15 verse 3, it's how that. Christ died
for our sins according to the scripture. Don't miss that. It's
not just that Christ died for our sins. If I just announced
Christ died for our sins, I have not preached the gospel. The
gospel is how that. Christ died for our sins according
to the Old Testament Scriptures. Now, who is the hour he's speaking
of when he says Christ died for our sins? Well, in the Old Testament,
the sacrifice wasn't for the Gentiles. It was just for Israel.
When Christ died, He was representing His elect, those who believe. And I love the Old Testament
story of the Passover, where the children of Israel were to
get into a house with the blood of the paschal lamb over the
lintel of the door. Everybody didn't have blood over
their door, just the children of Israel. And God said, when
I see the blood, not when you see it, when I see it, not when
I see your faith or your good works or your sincerity or your
repentance, but when I see the blood. What's the one thing God
was looking for? The blood, the blood of His dear
Son. Now that is the gospel. His blood was for His people.
Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people
from their sins, and it was effectual. If He died for you, you must
be saved. There will not be anybody in
hell that Christ died for. Now, the gospel is how that Christ
died for our sins as a sin-bearing substitute, putting away the
sins of His people and giving them a perfect righteousness,
how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.
Now, if I hear that in the power of the Spirit, then it becomes
gospel to me. not just doctrine to argue over, but it becomes
gospel, it becomes good news, it becomes my only hope, then
I have been called by God. The only people God calls are
people who hear and believe the gospel. And if I have not heard
and believed the gospel, God never called me. He calls by
the gospel. Now, this call is a personal
call. Lazarus, come forth. It was said to Mary, the Master
has come and calleth thee. Zacchaeus, make haste and come
down. It's a personal call. John chapter
10 verse 3 says, he calleth his own sheep by name. Is everybody
a sheep? No, they're goats as well, but
he calleth his own sheep by name. And this call is a necessary
call. Zacchaeus, make haste and come
down, for today I must abide at thy house. Now the only reason
why the Son of God must do anything is He must do His Father's will. It was His Father's will for
Him to call Zacchaeus to make haste and come down. It was His
Father's will for Him to abide in His house that day. It's a
necessary call. I think of that scripture, he
must need to go through Samaria. Why? Because one of his sheep
are there. He's gonna go call out that woman
at the well. All he foreknew, all he predestinated
must be called. And it's a call from death to
life. When he calls, you're dead. And
that call gives you life. Lazarus, come forth. And he that
was dead came forth. You are dead in trespasses and
sins. God said live, you lived. He called you by the gospel.
The hour is coming and now is when the dead shall hear the
voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall live. And this
call is a most effectual call. Lazarus, come forth. He that
was dead came forth. What an effectual call this is. Zacchaeus, make haste, come down. Today I must abide at thy house.
And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully. Now, 1 Corinthians chapter 1,
verses 23 and 24, Paul says, 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. This is that
call that cannot be resisted, the call of invincible grace. When he called Lazarus, Lazarus
couldn't turn him down, he couldn't say no. No, he was given life
from the dead, and he came forth. Peter calls it, in 1 Peter 2,
9, a call out of darkness into His marvelous light. A call out
of the darkness of religious ignorance and superstition and
man-made religion into the light of the gospel of the glory of
God. And beloved, it's a call to come
down. Zacchaeus, make haste, come down. The way up in the kingdom of
heaven is down, down, down to the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And this call is a call to holiness. 1 Thessalonians 4, 7 says, God
hath not called us to uncleanness, but unto holiness. And it's a
call to liberty. Galatians 5.13, God hath called
us to liberty, to freedom. Oh, the freedom of the gospel
as opposed to the bondage of salvation by law. And here's
the bottom line, it's a call to come to Christ. All I've said,
it's a call to come to Christ. And the Spirit and the bride
say come, and let him that heareth come, and whosoever will, let
him take the water of life freely. Now this call is God's call for
you to come to the Lord Jesus Christ and find your all in him. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. Now, when you hear me speak of
God only calling the elect, don't think that keeps you from coming
to Him. I don't care who you are. If
you call on His name, if you come to Him as a sinner needing
His mercy, you will be received. Come to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, whom He called, them He also justified. Now, in our experience,
Calling comes first. We don't know anything about
justification until He first calls us. But justification took
place before the calling. I was justified in the mind of
God before I was ever born. I was justified when Christ died
on the cross. Now, what is this thing of justification? Whom He called, then He also
justified. What does it mean? The Bible
has a lot to say about it. What does it mean? This too is
one of the results of foreknowledge and predestination, justification. The easiest way to understand
this glorious truth, justification is the sentence of the judge
in a court of law. Let's just think of it in human
terms. You're either pronounced justified or you're pronounced
guilty. Now, if you're guilty, that means
you're guilty of the charges laid against you. If you're justified,
you didn't do anything. You don't have any guilt. You
don't have anything to be brought to your charge. That's what justification
is. He makes a man without sin, not
guilty, not merely forgiven, but actually not guilty. So I stand before God absolutely
and perfectly just. I've heard people say justification
is just as if I never sinned. No, no. Justification is not
just as if you've never sinned. If you're justified, you never
sinned. You stand before God perfectly
righteous. I love the scripture in Luke
chapter 18 where that penitent publican was beating on his breast
saying, God be merciful to me, the sinner, the worst man to
ever live. And the Lord said regarding that
man, I say unto you that he went down to his house justified. Now this is the glory of the
gospel. God has made a way that He can take somebody who's guilty
and make them truly not guilty. Not as if they were not guilty,
but not guilty. That's what justification means. Now there are several key verses
in the Bible, I think, that summarize all we believe. Ephesians 2.8,
For by grace are you saved. through faith. And that not of
yourselves, it's the gift of God, not of works, lest any man
should boast. I think of Colossians 3.11, Christ
is all. And here is a foundational verse
of Scripture that I must have some understanding of. To him
that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly,
his faith is counted for righteousness." Now, that's what God does. He
justifies. He makes someone who's ungodly
perfectly righteous in his sight. And this is he who said, I'll
by no means clear the guilty. He will not clear the guilty.
If I have any guilt on me, he will not clear me. If God ever
sees me as guilty, he will not clear me. He has made a way to
be just and to justify the ungodly. Now, justification is not something
you accept or reject. The judge does not say to you,
well, take your choice. Do you want to be justified or
condemned? That's never happened. It's what the judge declares
you to be. justified or guilty. And justification is what God
declares you to be. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. If I'm justified, it's because
God Himself, the great judge of the earth, the highest court.
No court of appeals over this. There's no higher court to go
to. The highest court of all says regarding Todd Nybert, he's
justified, he's not guilty, he has no sin, he's perfectly righteous,
having the very righteousness of God. Now justification is
by grace. It's got to be by grace or we
won't be justified. Being justified freely by his
grace through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus. Justification
is by Christ. Galatians 2.17 says we're justified
by Christ. I'm justified by His life. His
life is my justification. It's my righteousness before
God. I love it when He said to John the Baptist, Thus it becometh us, me and you,
John, to fulfill all righteousness. And he wasn't just speaking of
John the Baptist. He's talking about all of God's people. They
all fulfilled righteousness when Christ did it. His life is my
righteousness before God. His sin payment is the way I
don't have any sin. He washed it all away when he
died and said, it is finished. The sins of all of his people
were washed away. They are no more. When he by
himself purged our sins, he sat down on the right hand of the
majesty on high. I'm justified by His resurrection. He was delivered for our offenses.
He was raised again for our justification. I'm justified by His faith. We're
justified by the faith of Christ. Christ is my justification before
God. He's made unto us wisdom and
righteousness, sanctification and redemption. And justification
is said to be by faith. Romans 5.1, being justified by
faith, we have peace with God. Now, what is the evidence? that
I've been justified by Christ. What is the evidence that I've
been justified by His grace? The evidence is faith. If you
believe the gospel, if you rely on Jesus Christ as your justification
before God, that is the evidence that He has in fact done something
for you. Faith is the evidence of things
not seen. We also read in the scripture
being justified by works. You see how, James said, you
see how that a man is justified by works and not by faith only,
and faith without works is dead, being alone. And he used the
example of Abraham, and this is such a beautiful example.
If you wanna understand what James meant when he's talking
about we're justified by works and not by faith only. Remember
God told Abraham, take your son, your only son whom you love,
and offer him up as a burnt offering unto me on a mount which I shall
show you." Now God had promised that the Messiah was going to
come through that boy. Now what if Abraham would have
said, I can't do that because then God's promise won't come
to pass. All he would prove by that is he didn't believe what
God said when God said the Messiah is going to come through Isaac.
But we know what Abraham believed from Hebrews chapter 11. He believed
that God would raise this boy from the dead after he killed
him because he knew the Messiah was going to come. It was his
works that proved he really believed. If he would have refused to obey
God, all it would prove is that he didn't believe God. But when
he was willing to offer up his son, he believed in his heart
that God would raise him from the dead. He proved he really
believed God. His works proved what he believed. And we're also said in Matthew
chapter 12 to be justified by our words. By your words you'll
be justified and by your words you'll be condemned. My words,
if I'm justified, will line up with everything I'm saying. And
if not, I'll prove I don't really believe and I'll only be condemned. What is the result of foreknowledge
and predestination? Justification. Calling, justification,
and here's the last one, verse 30, and whom he justified, them
he also glorified. This is not talking about something
that's going to take place in the future. Whom He justified,
them He also glorified. Now, what is glorification? Well, we know it's being just
like Christ. The great Indian predestination.
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of his son that he might be, the son might be
the firstborn among many brethren. God is determined to have a bunch
of little brothers and sisters for the Lord Jesus Christ that
are perfectly conformed to his image. And that's what glorification
is. It's being perfectly conformed
to his image. He didn't say they shall be.
He said, it's already taken place. Now if somebody says, you're
telling me you're glorified? Yes, I am. I don't see it. I
know, I don't either, but I believe it. You see, faith is the evidence
of things not seen. I do believe I'm glorified. Can I prove that to you by what
you see? No, but I feel no need to. glorified. That's a strong word,
isn't it? Glorified. Let's see if this
helps us understand this, how believers already glorified.
Do you remember the transfiguration when the Lord was transfigured
before the disciples and the scripture says his face shined
as the sun, his raiment became white and glistening. At this
time his glory burst through his humanity and they could see
it. Now here's my question. He'd
gone 30 some years, 30 years without anybody seeing it. Was
it there? Yes, it was there all along.
They just couldn't see it. The Lord said, glorify me with
the glory which I had with thee before the world was. He's always
had this glory. And he had this glory when they
did not see it. Now the Lord said concerning
His people in Matthew chapter 13 verse 43, then shall the righteous
shine forth as the sun. That's how He deems His people,
the righteous. Then shall they shine forth as
the sun. Their glory will be seen then,
but they have it now. You just can't see it. Just like
the Lord had it before it was shown, every believer has it.
Near, so near to God, nearer I cannot be. In the person of
His dear Son, I'm as near to God as He. Dear, so dear to God,
dearer I cannot be. In the person of His dear Son,
I'm as dear to God as He. I'm glorified, fit for worship,
fit to be embraced by God. Christ loved the church and gave
Himself for it that He might present it to Himself, a glorious
church. not having spot or wrinkle or
any such thing. And that's what every believer
is right now. Holy, unblameable, and unreprovable
in His sight. And notice that language, in
His sight. God sees things as they really
are. You and I don't. We can't see things as they really
are, but God does. And if I'm holy and unblameable
and unreprovable in God's sight, it's because I really am holy
and unblameable and unreprovable, already glorified. As a matter
of fact, I'm already in heaven according to Ephesians 2, verse
6. We are seated together in the heavenly places in Christ
Jesus. If Christ is in heaven, I am too because I'm united to
Him. He is my glory. Now what glorious results of
foreknowledge and predestination. 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. Moreover, whom
he did predestinate, this is what takes place in time. The
foreknown and the predestination took place before time, but this
is what is carried out in time. For whom he did foreknow, he
called. And whom he called, them he also
justified. And whom he justified, them he
also glorified. Now that is how complete the
work of Christ in salvation is. A believer is already glorified. Now, once again, I realize we
can't see this and only take it by faith, but I've never seen
the Lord Jesus Christ physically, but I know He is seated at the
right hand of the Father. We see by faith. And the work
of the Lord Jesus Christ is so complete that every believer
has been called, justified, and glorified, completely saved,
can't get any more saved, can't get any more accepted, can't
get any more loved than I am right now because of God's foreknowledge
and predestination. Paul put it this way in Colossians
chapter 2 verse 10. Verses 9 and 10 he said, For
in him the Lord Jesus Christ dwelleth, all the fullness of
the Godhead in a body, and you are complete, full, lacking nothing
in him. We'd like to invite you to services
at Todd's Road Grace Church. Come this morning. Bible study
begins at 9.45, the morning worship at 10.30, and the evening at
6. We have this message on DVD and
CD. If you call the church, write
or email, we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Nyberg praying God
will be pleased to make Himself known to you. That's our prayer.
Amen. To request a copy of the sermon you have just heard, send
your request to messages at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Or you may write or call the
church at the information provided on the screen.