Would you turn to Ephesians Chapter
1, and then we will go back to Romans Chapter 8. While you're turning there, let
me announce what I want to attempt to preach on this morning. I've
entitled this message, Foreknowledge and Predestination. And I don't know that I've ever
felt so altogether unable to deal with a subject of this magnitude. Every subject in the Bible is
a subject of such magnitude, I realize that, but this is a
big subject for knowledge and predestination. But in Ephesians
chapter one, beginning in verse three, we read, blessed be the
God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as
he hath chosen us in him. before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy and without blame before him,
in love having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will,
to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made
us accepted in the beloved. A pastor of a certain church
preached from Ephesians chapter one on the truth regarding God's
electing love. And a woman came up to him after
the service and said, I've got to admit, I'm having a hard time
with that, this thing of election, God choosing who would be saved. I'm having a hard time with it. And he had preached from this
passage I just read, Ephesians 1, 1, or 1, 3, and 4, and 5,
and 6. And in that passage of scripture, it tells who chose
who. He chose us. Amen? You know that, don't you? And it tells when that choice
was made. Before the foundation of the
world. And it tells how that choice
was made. According as He hath chosen us
in Him. And it tells why that choice
was made. To the praise of the glory of
His grace. And this woman said, I'm having
a hard time with that. And he said, well, let me ask
you a question. He said, are you saved? And she
said, I believe I am. And he said, did you save yourself
or did God save you? And she said, oh, the Lord saved
me. And he said, did you help or did he do it all? She said,
oh, he did it all. And he said, did he do it by
accident or on purpose? And she said, Oh. God has a purpose. In the verse before, Romans chapter
8, verse 29, if you turn back to Romans chapter 8, Paul gives us this glorious,
irrevocable promise of God, and we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are thee
called according to his purpose. Now God has a purpose. Let me
tell you what that purpose is. It's to glorify his son. That's
what his purpose is. Everything comes from that. And
thank God he's purposed to have a bunch of people who are going
to be just like him. I want to be in that, don't you?
Now, verse 29 begins with the word for. For whom he did foreknow,
them he also did predestinate. Now this is an explanation for
those who are called according to his purpose, for whom he did
foreknow. Now when most people think about
God's foreknowledge, because the Bible talks about it, there
is such a thing as the foreknowledge of God. And when most people
think about God's foreknowledge, they think about God being a
time traveler. He can see into the future. He can see what everybody's going
to do. He can see whether you'll accept Christ or reject him.
He can see all that. After all, he's God. He foresees
everything and he responds to what he foresees. Beloved God
doesn't respond to anything. He's God. He doesn't respond to anything.
Hold your finger on Romans 8 and turn to Acts chapter 13. This
verse of scripture will address that erroneous view. This is after Paul preached in
verse 48 of Acts chapter 13. And when the Gentiles heard this,
They were glad, and they glorified the word of the Lord, and as
many as believed were ordained to eternal life. Did I read that
right? No. As many as were ordained to eternal
life believed. for knowledge, for whom, not
what. for whom he did foreknow. Now,
I'm talking about things right now that I'm almost laughing
at myself for talking about them because I understand so little
of what I'm saying. It's in the Bible, and we believe
it, and as far as intellectually grasping these things, no, just
believe in them. Believe in them, but foreknowledge,
foreknowledge, God's foreknowledge. Now, with God, there is no sequence
of events. We can't understand that because
we're creatures of time. But with God, there is no sequence
of events. He's eternal. Everything is in
the present with him. But as far as a logical order
of things, foreknowledge comes before anything else. And it
does in our text, doesn't it? Whom he did foreknow, them he
also did predestinate. Now, in that verse of scripture,
there is the glowing absence of this concept. For whom he did foreknow would
believe. Then he also did predestinate.
It doesn't say that at all. It says for whom he did foreknow. Now, this speaks of those whom He
has always known. That's all that's talking about.
Those whom He has always known. If He knows me now, He has always
known me. And this cannot be said of every
son of Adam. What about that group to which
he said, depart from me ye that work iniquity, I never knew you. Now he knew who they were and
he knew everything about them, but he never knew them. As Adam
knew his wife Eve, which speaks of an intimate relationship of
love, of union, of oneness. those whom he foreknew. Now this speaks of the distinguishing
grace of God toward those whom he foreknew. I think of that
passage of scripture in 1 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 7. Who maketh
thee to differ from another? And what hast thou that thou
hast not received? Now, if you're a believer, you've
been made to differ from an unbeliever, haven't you? Who made you differ? God the Father in eternal election. God the Son in effectual redemption. And God the Holy Spirit in the
new birth. He gave you life. If you differ,
it's because He made you to differ. And if you differ, it's because
you've always been foreknown. He said to Jeremiah in Jeremiah
chapter 1 verse 5, before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee. before conception, before existence. He didn't say, I knew you'd be
born. He said, I knew you. That's mysterious,
isn't it? That's glorious. Foreknown means foreloved. That
means loved beforehand. That means always loved. That
means always known. As he said to Jeremiah, behold,
I have loved you with an everlasting love. And this is true of all of his
people. Somebody says, well, doesn't
God love everybody? You're not going to get that
from the Bible. Not from the Bible you won't.
You might get that from human tradition and man's false religion,
but you won't get that from the Bible. Romans 9.13, God says,
Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. That's God speaking.
Psalm 5.5 says, thou hatest all workers of iniquity. That's a
big group, isn't it? Thou hatest all workers of iniquity. But you know what? Thank God
there is a vast multitude, which by the way is an exact number,
which he has foreknown. Elect according to the foreknowledge
of God the Father. And you could just as easily
say, elect according to the four love of God the Father. Now,
Christ is the first foreknown. As a matter of fact, he's called
that in 1 Peter 1.20, who verily was foreordained. The same word
translated foreknow is translated foreordained there, but it's
the same word. Who verily was foreknown. Who verily, not what,
but who was foreknown. You know what that means? The
Father has always known the Son. When I think about the relationship
between the Father and the Son, A relationship that never had
a beginning. It's always been. Oh, the Father
loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. He
that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son
hath not life, but the wrath of God abides on him. It's there
to stay. Oh, the Father loves the Son,
Now, once again, this is something that I don't grasp, but I believe. You see, all of God's people
have always been known in the Son. All of God's people are one with
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I want us to look at a couple
of scriptures. Turn to Ephesians chapter 5. This is where Paul is talking
about marriage. And he tells us in verse 32,
this is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and
the church. He says, I'm really not talking about marriage so
much, although I am, and I'm thankful for what we learned
about marriage in this passage of scripture. But he says, I'm
speaking concerning Christ and the church. This is, this is
the subject. Now look back in verse 25, husbands
love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church. and gave
himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with
the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself
a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing,
but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men
to love their wives as their own body. He that loveth his
wife loveth himself." You know when Christ loved his
wife, you know who he was loving? He was loving himself. One with
the Lord Jesus Christ. Both he that sanctifies and they
who are sanctified are all of one. Remember that passage in
2 Timothy 2 verse 13 where it says, If we believe not, he abideth
faithful. He cannot deny himself. If he denied me, you know who
he'd be denying? himself. And turn with me for
a moment to Zechariah chapter 9. I think it was Donald Martin
who read this in the back last week, and I didn't notice this
marginal reading, and Claire pointed it out to me. In Zechariah
chapter 9, verse 9, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of
Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, thy King cometh unto thee. He is just and having salvation. Now, if you got a marginal reading,
you know what it says? He is just saving himself. When he was saving his people,
he was saving himself. Isn't that glorious? The eternal
union of Christ and His people, those who are foreknown. That's why He was delivered by
the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God. These people were foreknown. Everything that happened to Christ
on the cross and Oh, my soul, we know so very little. We talk
about it, and the more I see of what our Lord experienced
on the cross, the more convinced I, this was a transaction between
the Father and the Son. And me and you will never really
understand what was taking place. That's why The lights went out
and we were in the dark. We could never understand what
was going on when Christ cried out, my God, my God, why has
thou forsaken me? I know this much about it. That's
what I deserve, to be utterly forsaken by God. And my Redeemer
took my place. When he took my sin in his own
body, just as truly as me being united to him gives me his righteousness,
him being united to me, he took my sin. And he was forsaken by
God. And he did it all because he's
the foreloved. And I'm the foreloved. And for
me to be saved, he had to do all of that. For the truth against
thy holy child Jesus, whom thou has anointed both Herod and Pontius
Pilate with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered
together to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined
before to be done. Same word translated predestinated.
Everything he did, he did for those he did for no. Whom he did For no. Do you believe in predestination?
Absolutely. Do you believe everything is
predestinated? Yes, I do. Yes, I do. God is in absolute
control of everything. With you, does that mean that
even if I want to be saved, I won't be if I'm not predestinated?
Well, I believe half that. If you're not predestinated,
you won't be saved. But I don't believe in that foolishness about
even if I want to be saved, but I'm not predestinated, I won't
be. No. Anybody who comes to Christ for mercy, anyone who
looks to Christ only as all their salvation, that's someone who's
been predestinated before time began to be just like Christ. Let me ask you this question.
Do you want to be conformed to his image? Do you want to be utterly conformed
to the image of Jesus Christ? That is the purpose of God in
predestination. Now look at our text once again.
Romans chapter eight. For whom he did For no. For love. Love beforehand. He's always loved. Never been
a time when he didn't love. You know, that absolutely...
I don't even know what to say about
it. The fact that Jesus Christ has always known me. He's always
loved me. Way back in eternity past, and
I know there's no such thing as eternity past because there's
not a past in eternity. We're just groping for words
when we talk about that. But the Lord Jesus Christ has
always seen every believer as his precious bride. holy, unblameable,
and unreprovable in his sight. He looks at his bride, always
has looked at his bride, as beautiful, perfect, without spot, blemish,
or any such thing. Whom he did for know. whom he did know before. And
what about those people? He also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of his son that he might be the firstborn
among many brethren. Everything that takes place is all a part of what we call
God's providence. Everything that happens in time
was determined in eternity and is part of God's providence. But this glorious word, predestination,
is not about me falling down the steps, breaking my leg, and
saying, oh, I'm glad that was over. You know, it's predestined.
You know, the way people make jokes about predestination. Oh,
was I predestinated? Yeah, it was. Yeah, it was. I'm
not making jokes about that. The predestination doesn't have
to do with events, but persons. Whom he did foreknow. He also did predestinate. Here's my destination. to be
perfectly conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. Now here's what
predestination is. God took another look at his
only begotten and well-beloved son, the son of his love, and
he said, I'm going to have a bunch more just like him. That he might be the firstborn. among many brethren. Now that's the purpose of God
in predestination. Now look at this word in our
text, for whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of his son. Now would you turn with
me to Philippians chapter two for just a moment so we can get
some idea of what this word means. It's derived from the word spoken
of concerning Christ in Philippians chapter 2. Verse 5, let this mind be in
you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form
of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God. You know what that means? doesn't
mean that Jesus Christ is just like God. Jesus Christ is not
like God at all. He is God. The only reason someone can think
it not robbery to be equal with God is for one reason. The only
one who can be equal with God is God himself. And that's precisely
who Jesus Christ is. But look what it says in verse
7. While he was in the form of God, he made himself of no reputation. Literally, he made himself vanity.
That's what he made himself when he made himself flesh. He made
himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant. Now, let me say this regarding
the Lord Jesus Christ. Just as he is God, when he took
upon the form of a servant, that doesn't mean he was like a servant.
You know, when I think of the Lord washing his disciples' feet,
you can't help but think, what did he feel when he did that? Let me tell you what he felt.
He felt that of a servant. He didn't look at this as an
act of condescension. Look how much I'm stooping for
you. He really believed himself to
be the servant because he was the servant. He is the servant. God said, behold my servant,
mine elect in whom my soul delighteth. Now, if I was washing your feet,
and I hope I do that spiritually, if I'm a believer, I do, but
I think if somebody, you know, sometimes people go through this
act of feet washing, people taking off their shoes and people washing
one another's feet and so on. I'd be thinking, man, I'm humble. I know me, that's just the way
I'd be. But you know, the Lord didn't think anything like that.
He was humble, he is humble, and he is the servant. He doesn't look like a servant,
he is the servant. He said, the Son of Man came
not to minister, but to give his, but to be, the Son of Man
came not to be ministered to, but to minister, and to give
his life a ransom for many. Now listen to this, God has predestinated
those that he foreknows to be conformed to the image of Jesus
Christ. Now do you know what that means? That means we're predestinated
to have his nature. Second Peter 1.4 says that we're
partakers of the divine nature. I'm predestinated to have His
nature. Now, I wouldn't pretend to be
able to explain what all that means, but I believe it. That's what happens when you're
born again. You're made a partaker of the divine nature. We are predestinated to have
the same relationship with the Father that He has. He's the
Son. We're sons. Sons of God. He's my father. I'm his son. We are predestinated to have
his character. John puts it this way. We know
that when he shall appear, we shall be, what? Like him. For we shall see him as he is. Now we know enough about Christ
or regarding the person of Christ to know this. He's so glorious
that anybody who sees him will be perfectly conformed to his
image. This was David's hope. He said,
ask for me. I'll behold thy face in righteousness. I'll be satisfied when I awake
in thy likeness. We're predestinated to have his
character. We're predestinated to have his
inheritance. We're called joint heirs with
Christ. and we are predestinated to have
his glory. He said, the glory which thou
gavest me, I have given them, that they may be one, even as
we are one. Now this is every believer's
hope. John put it this way, beloved, it does not yet appear what we
shall be, And I love the way John says that even under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit. He can't really give a description
of what it's gonna be like to be perfectly conformed to his
image. Anybody here, you think you'd give a stab at that? Of
course not. We don't even know what it means, but we believe
it. Beloved, it doth not yet appear
what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we
shall be like him. for we shall see him as he is. Now, God does all of this for
the glory of his son, that he might be the firstborn among
many brethren. When you're looking at the sinner,
you're looking at right now speaking to you, and you see me perfectly conformed
to the image of Jesus Christ, what glory that will give Christ,
that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Now, when
you see me, or when I see you, perfectly conformed to the image
of Christ, You're going to think that he was able to do such a
thing? What glory that gives Christ.
What glory, how that will magnify his love. That he could love
somebody like me so much that he would give himself for me
that I might be conformed to his image. How it'll magnify
his grace that he could look in such free favor on one so
ugly and make me just like him. How it'll magnify his power that
he was able to do such a thing. How it'll magnify his wisdom
that he was wise enough to actually make every one of his people
just like himself. That's God's purpose in predestination,
that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Now that
word, firstborn, is found in the New Testament six times.
This is what I want to close with, this thought of him being
the firstborn among many brethren. I love that scripture in Hebrews
chapter 2 when it says, both he that sanctifieth and they
who are sanctified are all of one. For the witch cause, he's
not ashamed to call them brethren. He's not ashamed to call me,
that's my brother. That's my brother. He's one with
me. We have the same father. We have
the same nature. We have the same character. That's
my brother. Now, he's the firstborn among
many brethren. While I am somehow a partaker
of his nature and character because of what he's done for me, He's still the firstborn. He's way, way, infinitely way
above me. I'm his little brother. I love
that, but he's the firstborn among many brethren. In Luke
2 7, he's the firstborn of the virgin. This speaks of His incarnation. You know, He's the first and
the only to be born of a virgin. He's the firstborn of the virgin. And in Colossians 1.15, He is
the image of God, the firstborn of all creation. Now that doesn't
mean He was created. He's the uncreated, eternal Son
of God. But it means all creation came
out of Him. And He's the firstborn. And then
in verse 18 of the same chapter, he's called the firstborn that
in all things he might have the preeminence. He's the one who
gets all the preeminence and all the glory. Let me ask you
a question. I want to ask you a question, and I want you to
answer it in your own heart honestly. Does it make you happy that he
gets all the glory in your salvation? Is that something that resonates
with you? Because you know it's so, because you know that there's
no way any glory could go to you. It all goes to Him, and
you love it that way. And then, in Hebrews 1, 6, He's
called the firstborn who the angels of God worship as God. He's the firstborn who is the
object of divine worship. And then, in Revelation 1-5,
he's called the first begotten from the dead the faithful witness.
You see, his death, burial, and resurrection is the faithful
witness of all that God is. The only way you and I will know
God is by knowing Jesus Christ as the first begotten from the
dead and what his life, death, and resurrection accomplished.
All of God's attributes magnified. If you want to know who God is,
if you want to know what God's really like, if you want to know
who He is, you can only see Him in the person of Christ. He is
the faithful witness, the first begotten from the dead. And in
our text, He's the firstborn that every believer was predestinated
to be conformed to His image, that He might be the firstborn
among many brethren. Now, can you all understand why
I feel kind of completely unable to speak on what I'm trying to
speak on. You know, I feel a great measure of frustration, and I
would feel a whole lot more frustration with myself if I thought, man,
I've done a good job presenting such a glorious subject for knowledge
and predestination. No, I feel like, boy, you done
messed up again. But I hope the Lord will take
some of these words and make us bow at his feet. Now, because he is the firstborn
among many brethren, he can say to all those whom he foreknew
what he said to Moses, thou hast found grace in my sight. and I know thee by name. Let's pray.