1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:20,800 Would you take your copy of the Word of God and turn with me to Romans chapter 8, please? 2 00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:26,100 We're talking today about the certainty of God's purpose. 3 00:00:26,100 --> 00:00:30,600 Our text is Romans 8 verses 28 through 30. 4 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:35,840 We will not be able to fully expound our text. 5 00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:39,280 The outline in your worship folder, I think, has five points to it. 6 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:44,840 We will cover the first two with the Lord's help. 7 00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:55,640 In a day when certainty about anything is unfashionable and considered unscientific 8 00:00:55,640 --> 00:01:04,520 and non-intellectual, the child of God can nonetheless say that there are some things 9 00:01:04,520 --> 00:01:07,760 that he knows for sure. 10 00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:14,560 You see, the Christian life is a life of knowing, not guessing. 11 00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:18,040 The child of God may know that he is saved. 12 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:23,140 First John 5 verses 12 and 13, he that has the Son has life. 13 00:01:23,140 --> 00:01:25,600 He that has not the Son of God has not life. 14 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:29,960 These things are right unto you that believe in the name of the Son of God that you may 15 00:01:29,960 --> 00:01:34,940 know that you have eternal life. 16 00:01:34,940 --> 00:01:40,360 The child of God may know that his salvation is secure. 17 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:48,560 The Apostle said in 1 Timothy 1, 12, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded, 18 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:54,740 convinced that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him, that is the safe 19 00:01:54,740 --> 00:01:57,000 keeping of his soul. 20 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:03,840 Furthermore, the child of God may know for certain that his service for the Lord is not 21 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:04,840 fruitless. 22 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:14,960 1 Corinthians 15, 58, for you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. 23 00:02:14,960 --> 00:02:19,520 The child of God may furthermore know that his body will be gloriously resurrected. 24 00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:26,960 2 Corinthians 5, 1, for we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, 25 00:02:26,960 --> 00:02:35,960 we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 26 00:02:35,960 --> 00:02:40,800 We know that we have that resurrected body coming. 27 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:44,520 Then the child of God may as well know that he will be like Christ. 28 00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:52,920 In 1 John 3, verse 2 it says, we know that when he appears we shall be like him, for 29 00:02:52,920 --> 00:02:56,840 we shall see him as he is. 30 00:02:56,840 --> 00:03:01,880 We also have certainty about God's purpose. 31 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:08,200 We may have confidence that he is working in our circumstances for our good as well 32 00:03:08,200 --> 00:03:11,200 as his glory. 33 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:14,500 That is because God is sovereign. 34 00:03:14,500 --> 00:03:16,920 We need not fear therefore. 35 00:03:16,920 --> 00:03:20,600 His purpose will be realized. 36 00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:23,000 Our text touches on this. 37 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:31,880 It says, and we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love 38 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:37,880 God, to those who are called according to his purpose. 39 00:03:37,880 --> 00:03:52,200 We know that God causes all things, whether pleasant or unpleasant, to work together, 40 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:59,220 to be blended together, to be mixed together for our good. 41 00:03:59,220 --> 00:04:04,280 That is for those of us who are described as loving God. 42 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:08,480 That's the human side of what the child of God is like. 43 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:14,740 He's one who loves God quite unlike the unsaved person who hates God. 44 00:04:14,740 --> 00:04:23,200 The Christian genuinely loves God, but from the divine side he is described as one who 45 00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:28,000 is called according to God's purpose. 46 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:33,160 And that's the emphasis of the text, the purpose of God, the fact that we are called 47 00:04:33,160 --> 00:04:38,680 to that purpose and that that purpose is absolutely certain. 48 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:45,800 There is nothing that can short circuit the purpose of God. 49 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:53,100 The certainty of his purpose is guaranteed by five actions of God. 50 00:04:53,100 --> 00:04:57,480 They are revealed in our text. 51 00:04:57,480 --> 00:05:05,320 He says in verse 29, For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the 52 00:05:05,320 --> 00:05:12,400 image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 53 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:16,100 And whom he predestined, these he also called. 54 00:05:16,100 --> 00:05:21,360 And whom he called, these he also justified. 55 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:25,880 And whom he justified, these he also glorified. 56 00:05:25,880 --> 00:05:28,120 You see the five actions. 57 00:05:28,120 --> 00:05:36,920 He foreknew, he predestined, he called, he justified, he glorified. 58 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:46,120 From our perspective as mortal human beings, two of these actions have taken place long 59 00:05:46,120 --> 00:05:50,620 before we were born, the first two. 60 00:05:50,620 --> 00:05:56,920 Two of the actions have taken place during our lifetime, the second two. 61 00:05:56,920 --> 00:06:01,400 And the final one is yet to be experienced by us, its future. 62 00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:08,320 So we're in the middle of these verses as far as our life's timeline is concerned. 63 00:06:08,320 --> 00:06:15,560 But I want you to notice that all five of these verbs are in a tense which indicates 64 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:25,000 that as far as God is concerned, they have all already taken place for all believers. 65 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:26,520 Time does not enter into it. 66 00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:31,400 These are completed actions by God. 67 00:06:31,400 --> 00:06:42,520 They form an unbroken chain reaching from eternity past to eternity future. 68 00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:48,240 You see God sees the end from the beginning. 69 00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:51,700 They are the same to him. 70 00:06:51,700 --> 00:07:00,580 And he decrees all future events as fixed as if it were history. 71 00:07:00,580 --> 00:07:05,400 Because you see being eternal it is history so to speak. 72 00:07:05,400 --> 00:07:09,040 He is beyond it. 73 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:18,080 All our text does is to survey for us salvation from God's perspective. 74 00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:20,400 The Apostle Paul does not interject. 75 00:07:20,400 --> 00:07:28,920 He does not try to reconcile what we might call the human perspective regarding salvation. 76 00:07:28,920 --> 00:07:32,360 We will talk about that some. 77 00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:38,480 But he is not concerned with that as he presents to us the certainty of God's purpose. 78 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:47,280 God is that those who are his sons by adoption receive their full inheritance of the glory 79 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:52,680 that is theirs in Jesus Christ. 80 00:07:52,680 --> 00:08:00,960 And so the Apostle surveys salvation from God's perspective. 81 00:08:00,960 --> 00:08:11,560 Let's take a look at number one, he foreknew. 82 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:14,960 What does it mean that God foreknew? 83 00:08:14,960 --> 00:08:18,880 Does it mean that God has advanced knowledge? 84 00:08:18,880 --> 00:08:21,600 That he knows before? 85 00:08:21,600 --> 00:08:26,560 This word is really transliterated into the English language from the Greek. 86 00:08:26,560 --> 00:08:32,600 It's prognosis. 87 00:08:32,600 --> 00:08:35,800 Does it mean that God knows ahead of time what's going to take place? 88 00:08:35,800 --> 00:08:37,600 Well, of course it does mean that. 89 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:40,620 God does know what's going to take place. 90 00:08:40,620 --> 00:08:44,000 Nothing ever catches God by surprise. 91 00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:50,080 God is never frustrated by some unexpected turn of events. 92 00:08:50,080 --> 00:08:52,080 He is sovereign. 93 00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:57,440 Now, it's difficult for us to understand sovereignty because we live in a democracy, 94 00:08:57,440 --> 00:09:01,080 but if we lived perhaps in England we would understand better what sovereignty is all 95 00:09:01,080 --> 00:09:02,080 about. 96 00:09:02,080 --> 00:09:09,960 But it means that the one who is sovereign has absolutely all power. 97 00:09:09,960 --> 00:09:15,160 God is sovereign and in his sovereignty he foreknows. 98 00:09:15,160 --> 00:09:16,160 What does that mean? 99 00:09:16,160 --> 00:09:17,840 Well, it means more than knowing in advance. 100 00:09:17,840 --> 00:09:24,400 It includes fixing what will happen. 101 00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:33,400 It means that there is a choice implied here, that there is a designation involved ahead 102 00:09:33,400 --> 00:09:34,400 of time. 103 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:43,360 In other words, when it says that God foreknew, it means that he designated something or someone 104 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:46,360 ahead of time. 105 00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:53,520 You see, history is running the course that God has charted for it. 106 00:09:53,520 --> 00:09:56,240 We see this, for example, back in Acts chapter 2. 107 00:09:56,240 --> 00:10:00,960 I want you to turn there because it illustrates exactly what I'm talking about. 108 00:10:00,960 --> 00:10:03,720 Acts chapter 2. 109 00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:07,120 We're going to come right into the middle of Peter's sermon, which is always an impolite 110 00:10:07,120 --> 00:10:10,640 thing to do, but he'll forgive us. 111 00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:15,640 Please remember as you read this sermon on the day of Pentecost that it was not intended 112 00:10:15,640 --> 00:10:21,640 to be primarily a message preaching the gospel that people could be saved, though people 113 00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:22,640 were saved. 114 00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:36,280 But it was primarily an indictment against Israel because of her rejection of her Messiah. 115 00:10:36,280 --> 00:10:40,000 In verse 22 he says, Men of Israel, listen to these words. 116 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:46,840 Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs 117 00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:56,000 which God performed through him in your midst, just as you yourselves know, this man delivered 118 00:10:56,000 --> 00:11:05,960 up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands 119 00:11:05,960 --> 00:11:09,680 of godless men and put him to death. 120 00:11:09,680 --> 00:11:11,960 Here's the indictment. 121 00:11:11,960 --> 00:11:21,680 You have crucified your Messiah, whom God attested to you to be the Messiah. 122 00:11:21,680 --> 00:11:24,440 And notice that he points to their responsibility. 123 00:11:24,440 --> 00:11:35,200 He says, you nailed him to a cross by the hands of godless men and put him to death. 124 00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:37,040 You did that, he says. 125 00:11:37,040 --> 00:11:41,920 You are responsible. 126 00:11:41,920 --> 00:11:49,080 But before he says that, he says something that is more significant by far than that. 127 00:11:49,080 --> 00:11:59,180 He says this man delivered up, given over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge 128 00:11:59,180 --> 00:12:01,500 of God. 129 00:12:01,500 --> 00:12:04,080 The death of Jesus Christ was no accident. 130 00:12:04,080 --> 00:12:06,840 It was not something that got out of hand. 131 00:12:06,840 --> 00:12:12,400 God was not caught off guard by what happened to him on the day he was crucified. 132 00:12:12,400 --> 00:12:17,160 It was all according to the very plan of God. 133 00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:24,960 I want you to notice furthermore that there is one article, The, that modifies two phrases, 134 00:12:24,960 --> 00:12:31,040 the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God. 135 00:12:31,040 --> 00:12:37,360 That is significant because it means that those two phrases, while they are not the 136 00:12:37,360 --> 00:12:47,160 same thing exactly, nonetheless overlay each other. 137 00:12:47,160 --> 00:12:52,920 They belong to each other, like a husband and wife. 138 00:12:52,920 --> 00:12:58,360 You cannot separate the predetermined plan of God from his foreknowledge because in so 139 00:12:58,360 --> 00:13:02,640 many ways they are part and parcel of each other. 140 00:13:02,640 --> 00:13:08,640 The significance of this is that it proves that God's foreknowledge is a part of his 141 00:13:08,640 --> 00:13:11,720 predetermining process. 142 00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:17,280 In other words, foreknowledge means much more than just knowing something ahead of time, 143 00:13:17,280 --> 00:13:20,320 but it means determining something ahead of time. 144 00:13:20,320 --> 00:13:25,440 We'll see more about this truth in a moment, but first I want you to go back to Romans 145 00:13:25,440 --> 00:13:33,240 chapter 11 verse 2, where this verb foreknew is used again. 146 00:13:33,240 --> 00:13:38,800 In this context, it's used of Israel, God's Old Testament people. 147 00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:46,400 The apostle is here answering the question, has God rejected his people? 148 00:13:46,400 --> 00:13:48,200 He says, God forbid. 149 00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:56,560 In verse 2, he says, God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. 150 00:13:56,560 --> 00:14:00,920 He's talking here about the nation of Israel. 151 00:14:00,920 --> 00:14:06,800 I want to read to you, and you may turn there if you like, a verse from the book of Amos 152 00:14:06,800 --> 00:14:07,800 in the Old Testament. 153 00:14:07,800 --> 00:14:09,280 You say, is there such a book? 154 00:14:09,280 --> 00:14:10,280 Yes. 155 00:14:10,280 --> 00:14:20,000 One of the minor prophets, chapter 3 of Amos, verse 1, hear this word which the Lord has 156 00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:25,200 spoken against you, sons of Israel, against the entire family which he brought up from 157 00:14:25,200 --> 00:14:27,440 the land of Egypt. 158 00:14:27,440 --> 00:14:33,120 You only have I chosen among all the families of the earth. 159 00:14:33,120 --> 00:14:38,600 Therefore, I will punish you for your iniquities. 160 00:14:38,600 --> 00:14:43,480 You see, the Jews of that day thought that because in fact they had been chosen of God, 161 00:14:43,480 --> 00:14:47,500 that they were exempt from judgment. 162 00:14:47,500 --> 00:14:50,320 God would never punish them. 163 00:14:50,320 --> 00:14:57,880 And yet God says, exactly because he had chosen them, their responsibility was even greater, 164 00:14:57,880 --> 00:15:00,680 and thus judgment was on the way. 165 00:15:00,680 --> 00:15:04,060 The point I want to draw out of there is what God says. 166 00:15:04,060 --> 00:15:10,240 You only have I chosen among all the families of the earth. 167 00:15:10,240 --> 00:15:17,280 Why did God choose the nation of Israel there in the land of Egypt? 168 00:15:17,280 --> 00:15:20,320 Because that was his purpose. 169 00:15:20,320 --> 00:15:28,440 It wasn't because the Jews were down in Egypt seeking after God. 170 00:15:28,440 --> 00:15:33,680 God chose them in the land of Egypt because that was his purpose, that he might fulfill 171 00:15:33,680 --> 00:15:36,480 what he had said to Abraham and his descendants. 172 00:15:36,480 --> 00:15:38,560 Let's back it up further. 173 00:15:38,560 --> 00:15:46,600 Why did God choose Abraham there in the land of the Chaldeans, given over undoubtedly to 174 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:50,200 pagan idolatry like those around him? 175 00:15:50,200 --> 00:15:58,420 Why did God choose Abraham out of all of those people to be the one through whom the seed 176 00:15:58,420 --> 00:16:01,840 of Messiah would be transmitted? 177 00:16:01,840 --> 00:16:05,080 I'll tell you why. 178 00:16:05,080 --> 00:16:07,680 Because God purposed to do it. 179 00:16:07,680 --> 00:16:09,360 That's why. 180 00:16:09,360 --> 00:16:16,040 It was not because Abraham was seeking after God or groping after him in his idolatry, 181 00:16:16,040 --> 00:16:22,500 but God appeared to him in the middle of his idolatry and called him because that was what 182 00:16:22,500 --> 00:16:23,860 he chose to do. 183 00:16:23,860 --> 00:16:30,520 You see, that's the sovereignty of God. 184 00:16:30,520 --> 00:16:36,080 And so the Jews, as a nation, are the chosen people of God. 185 00:16:36,080 --> 00:16:40,280 And God has not today rejected them, though they have been set aside. 186 00:16:40,280 --> 00:16:42,800 And we'll be getting into that in the next few chapters. 187 00:16:42,800 --> 00:16:49,040 If we ever get there, I know somebody says, yes, we'll get there eventually. 188 00:16:49,040 --> 00:17:00,880 I want you to turn now to 1 Peter, chapter 1. 189 00:17:00,880 --> 00:17:06,020 Romans chapters 9, 10, and 11 talk about Israel being set aside and what God is doing right 190 00:17:06,020 --> 00:17:11,040 now and what he's going to do with the Jews. 191 00:17:11,040 --> 00:17:14,040 For now, let's turn to 1 Peter, chapter 1, verse 20. 192 00:17:14,040 --> 00:17:20,200 I want to return briefly to this theme of Jesus Christ being foreknown. 193 00:17:20,200 --> 00:17:21,600 We saw it in Acts 2. 194 00:17:21,600 --> 00:17:29,040 Here it says, after speaking about the blood of Christ shed for our redemption, it says, 195 00:17:29,040 --> 00:17:36,720 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last 196 00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:43,000 times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God. 197 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:44,000 What is that telling us? 198 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:50,120 It means, folks, that before God ever said, let there be light, before God brought into 199 00:17:50,120 --> 00:18:01,640 existence matter and space and time, before all of that, God designated the Son to be 200 00:18:01,640 --> 00:18:09,840 the Redeemer of man who was yet to be created, who was yet to fall into a sin. 201 00:18:09,840 --> 00:18:17,560 He says, He was foreknown before the foundation of the world. 202 00:18:17,560 --> 00:18:21,520 That means exactly what it says. 203 00:18:21,520 --> 00:18:27,300 Not just that God knew ahead of time that Christ would die for sins, but that God designated 204 00:18:27,300 --> 00:18:34,760 ahead of time, God determined ahead of time that Christ would come and die for sin. 205 00:18:34,760 --> 00:18:45,240 I want you to turn back a page, if you have a Bible like mine, to chapter 1 of 1 Peter, 206 00:18:45,240 --> 00:18:48,280 verses 1 and 2. 207 00:18:48,280 --> 00:18:52,280 We have seen that foreknowledge applies to Israel as a nation. 208 00:18:52,280 --> 00:18:55,560 It applies to Jesus Christ. 209 00:18:55,560 --> 00:19:02,120 And now we're going to see that it applies to you, if you are a Christian. 210 00:19:02,120 --> 00:19:07,280 Consider an apostle of Jesus Christ to those who reside as aliens scattered, and he names 211 00:19:07,280 --> 00:19:17,440 where, who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father by the sanctifying work 212 00:19:17,440 --> 00:19:23,120 of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with his blood. 213 00:19:23,120 --> 00:19:30,620 Do you notice there the work of the triune God in our salvation? 214 00:19:30,620 --> 00:19:36,280 Part of that is the work of God the Father, and it says that we have been chosen according 215 00:19:36,280 --> 00:19:38,780 to the foreknowledge of God the Father. 216 00:19:38,780 --> 00:19:42,520 Now someone says, I understand what foreknowledge is. 217 00:19:42,520 --> 00:19:48,960 It means that God saw ahead of time who was predisposed to believe in Christ, or who would 218 00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:55,840 be open to trusting Christ as Savior, and therefore God chose them. 219 00:19:55,840 --> 00:20:01,560 That is absolutely not what this means. 220 00:20:01,560 --> 00:20:06,680 We have already seen that foreknowledge means more than just knowing ahead of time. 221 00:20:06,680 --> 00:20:09,520 It means designation. 222 00:20:09,520 --> 00:20:14,320 And what it says here is that we have been chosen according to what God predetermined 223 00:20:14,320 --> 00:20:17,160 himself should happen. 224 00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:25,240 Now remember, we're looking at salvation from God's perspective. 225 00:20:25,240 --> 00:20:33,400 The implication of this is staggering, because it means that before you were conceived within 226 00:20:33,400 --> 00:20:44,720 the womb of your mother, God had already chosen you to be one of his own. 227 00:20:44,720 --> 00:20:52,640 It means that before your parents were born, I'm going to take it back farther than that, 228 00:20:52,640 --> 00:21:00,240 before the world was created, you were chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the 229 00:21:00,240 --> 00:21:08,000 Father to be one of his sons who should inherit his eternal glory. 230 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:10,520 That's what foreknowledge means. 231 00:21:10,520 --> 00:21:12,080 You say, can you prove that? 232 00:21:12,080 --> 00:21:13,080 I think so. 233 00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:22,520 Turn over to the book of Revelation, chapter 13, for a moment. 234 00:21:22,520 --> 00:21:25,040 Look at verse 8. 235 00:21:25,040 --> 00:21:29,400 Sometimes you can compare chapter 17 verse 8, which says something very similar. 236 00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:36,280 The context here is the beast, the antichrist, who will come in the last days during the 237 00:21:36,280 --> 00:21:39,720 tribulation time. 238 00:21:39,720 --> 00:21:44,200 And he says, all who dwell on the earth will worship him. 239 00:21:44,200 --> 00:21:48,720 Not Christ now, antichrist. 240 00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:56,320 One whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life 241 00:21:56,320 --> 00:22:04,000 of the Lamb who has been slain. 242 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:06,700 Do you see that? 243 00:22:06,700 --> 00:22:14,340 That verse says that in that time to come, the tribulation period, that most of the earth 244 00:22:14,340 --> 00:22:18,200 will worship after the beast. 245 00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:23,820 The demons will gather them together and turn them to the lie, and they will believe that 246 00:22:23,820 --> 00:22:28,000 he is God. 247 00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:31,720 They will follow him to their own damnation. 248 00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:38,440 But there are those who will not follow him, and that is those whose names are written 249 00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:45,180 from the foundation of the world in the book of the life of the Lamb who has been slain. 250 00:22:45,180 --> 00:22:48,200 Those who have not been written that book will follow him. 251 00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:51,740 Those who have, by implication, will not. 252 00:22:51,740 --> 00:23:00,240 Notice when the names are written in the book of life of the Lamb, in the foundation of 253 00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:01,240 the world. 254 00:23:01,240 --> 00:23:09,080 In other words, when a person trusts Jesus Christ, we should not preach or somehow picture 255 00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:15,160 to them that suddenly an angel in heaven has taken a celestial pen and is then writing 256 00:23:15,160 --> 00:23:18,680 their name in the Lamb's book of life. 257 00:23:18,680 --> 00:23:26,320 Because that book has already been written before creation. 258 00:23:26,320 --> 00:23:31,680 And before you were named, or your parents were named, or before your father Adam was 259 00:23:31,680 --> 00:23:35,840 even alive. 260 00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:42,280 The name that you now possess, your identity, was sealed, secure within the Lamb's book 261 00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:43,280 of life. 262 00:23:43,280 --> 00:23:46,960 That is the sovereignty of God. 263 00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:47,960 He foreknew. 264 00:23:47,960 --> 00:23:49,920 That is what the verse says. 265 00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:52,200 Now let's go back to Romans 8. 266 00:23:52,200 --> 00:23:59,000 Ah yes, says someone, but I have an objection. 267 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:01,080 I don't doubt that. 268 00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:02,800 What about my free will? 269 00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:05,760 Somebody says. 270 00:24:05,760 --> 00:24:10,960 You are overriding my free will. 271 00:24:10,960 --> 00:24:19,300 Would it surprise you to learn that that term free will is not a biblical term in the context 272 00:24:19,300 --> 00:24:22,380 of salvation? 273 00:24:22,380 --> 00:24:25,200 You will search in vain to find it. 274 00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:27,880 I've looked. 275 00:24:27,880 --> 00:24:32,860 It is used in the Old Testament of the offerings that were brought by the people of Israel 276 00:24:32,860 --> 00:24:41,240 to the tabernacle, but you will not find the term free will used in the context of salvation. 277 00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:45,320 It is not a biblical term in that respect. 278 00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:52,160 Furthermore, the concept behind the term free will is a fallacy. 279 00:24:52,160 --> 00:25:01,740 And that is because man is only free in his will to choose to do sin. 280 00:25:01,740 --> 00:25:10,080 That is because man's heart is evil and desperately wicked. 281 00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:15,420 People don't like that, especially unsaved people, though most Christians would agree 282 00:25:15,420 --> 00:25:18,640 to it. 283 00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:24,280 The apostle Paul in Ephesians chapter 4 says that the heart of the unsaved man is darkened 284 00:25:24,280 --> 00:25:26,960 because he is ignorant. 285 00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:34,560 The reason he is ignorant is because of the hardness of his heart. 286 00:25:34,560 --> 00:25:38,480 You see, the heart of the sinner is hardened toward God. 287 00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:42,400 You say, but I believed in Christ. 288 00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:44,400 I chose to believe in him. 289 00:25:44,400 --> 00:25:45,520 Yes, that is true. 290 00:25:45,520 --> 00:25:48,620 You did. 291 00:25:48,620 --> 00:25:53,540 You did choose to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ under the saving of your soul. 292 00:25:53,540 --> 00:25:58,440 You did choose to believe the promise that whosoever will may come, which is a legitimate 293 00:25:58,440 --> 00:26:01,880 promise. 294 00:26:01,880 --> 00:26:06,920 The only thing is that God had to act on your will so that you would choose it. 295 00:26:06,920 --> 00:26:11,480 And if he hadn't acted on your will and taken the first step, you would never have 296 00:26:11,480 --> 00:26:16,280 chosen Jesus Christ and believed on him. 297 00:26:16,280 --> 00:26:22,560 You were unable to trust the Lord Jesus Christ by the action of the Holy Spirit upon your 298 00:26:22,560 --> 00:26:23,560 will. 299 00:26:23,560 --> 00:26:32,440 We will talk some more about that in a moment, but I simply want to point out at this juncture 300 00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:36,800 that my friend's salvation is all of grace. 301 00:26:36,800 --> 00:26:42,760 It is all of God. 302 00:26:42,760 --> 00:26:45,000 Jonah learned that. 303 00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:53,440 Jonah went to the University of the Wales-Billy and had a three-day intensive course in graduate 304 00:26:53,440 --> 00:26:56,240 seminary. 305 00:26:56,240 --> 00:27:01,200 Before he could graduate, he had to give a dissertation to God, and he did. 306 00:27:01,200 --> 00:27:04,280 Read it in Jonah chapter 2. 307 00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:06,500 He concluded, this is the summary. 308 00:27:06,500 --> 00:27:09,720 This was his dissertation. 309 00:27:09,720 --> 00:27:13,760 Salvation is of the Lord. 310 00:27:13,760 --> 00:27:14,760 You know what happened? 311 00:27:14,760 --> 00:27:17,640 He was graduated. 312 00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:22,760 He went right out of the whale, onto the beach, because he had learned the lesson and passed 313 00:27:22,760 --> 00:27:23,920 it. 314 00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:29,680 You see, he was dead in that whale. 315 00:27:29,680 --> 00:27:34,240 The only way he could be saved was if God did it and God did it, because Jonah knew 316 00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:38,680 it, that it was all of grace. 317 00:27:38,680 --> 00:27:42,220 You say, yes, but I know my faith. 318 00:27:42,220 --> 00:27:44,560 I exercise my faith in trusting Christ. 319 00:27:44,560 --> 00:27:50,040 Yes, you did exercise faith in trusting Christ, but my friend, that faith itself was a gift 320 00:27:50,040 --> 00:27:52,680 from God. 321 00:27:52,680 --> 00:28:01,480 Ephesians 2 verses 8 and 9, for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not 322 00:28:01,480 --> 00:28:10,600 of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works lest any man should boast. 323 00:28:10,600 --> 00:28:18,280 So the very faith that we exercised, our saving faith, is a faith that God gives to us. 324 00:28:18,280 --> 00:28:23,040 We did not cooperate with grace in our salvation. 325 00:28:23,040 --> 00:28:29,520 We were the recipients of grace in salvation. 326 00:28:29,520 --> 00:28:36,280 You see, that way God gets 100% of the glory. 327 00:28:36,280 --> 00:28:42,040 It's not as though God does 95% of it and 5% is yours, because if that was true, then 328 00:28:42,040 --> 00:28:47,240 God would get 95% of the glory and you would get 5%. 329 00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:53,800 It's not even that God has done 99% and you've done 1% by believing, because then you would 330 00:28:53,800 --> 00:28:56,340 still get 1% of the glory. 331 00:28:56,340 --> 00:29:03,880 The truth of the biblical gospel is that it's all of the Lord. 332 00:29:03,880 --> 00:29:10,120 You say, but wait a minute, that means then that God elects some to go to hell. 333 00:29:10,120 --> 00:29:13,900 Oh does it? 334 00:29:13,900 --> 00:29:18,040 You will search the revelation of God about this subject, my friend, and you will fail 335 00:29:18,040 --> 00:29:25,120 to find one word that says that, because election has nothing to do with unsaved people. 336 00:29:25,120 --> 00:29:31,020 It has only to do with the sons of God. 337 00:29:31,020 --> 00:29:37,160 God does not unjustly treat the unsaved. 338 00:29:37,160 --> 00:29:46,960 The judgment that any man receives in going to hell is the destiny that he deserves. 339 00:29:46,960 --> 00:29:55,440 I believe that we have the testimony of a man from hell who says that, at least by implication. 340 00:29:55,440 --> 00:30:02,800 That is the rich man in Luke chapter 16, because conversation from him is recorded there. 341 00:30:02,800 --> 00:30:11,160 You do not find one complaint from that man that he was getting something he did not deserve. 342 00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:18,080 You do not hear him say as he speaks from hell, God has been unfair with me. 343 00:30:18,080 --> 00:30:23,040 But his concern is that those brothers of his who are still alive on the earth might 344 00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:27,880 be saved before they came to that awful place of torment. 345 00:30:27,880 --> 00:30:35,600 You see, he knew that he was receiving his just desert. 346 00:30:35,600 --> 00:30:43,520 The very idea that God elects some to go to hell has a wrong implication in it. 347 00:30:43,520 --> 00:30:50,080 That implication is that man is somehow neutral. 348 00:30:50,080 --> 00:30:56,840 Or perhaps even that he is hoping and desirous of being one of the elect. 349 00:30:56,840 --> 00:31:03,200 And if God somehow fails to choose him, then against his wishes, he must be turned away 350 00:31:03,200 --> 00:31:06,680 into hell. 351 00:31:06,680 --> 00:31:13,440 Some would picture it almost like a conveyor belt on which mankind is passing through life. 352 00:31:13,440 --> 00:31:21,920 And they see man as groping after God and hoping that God will choose them. 353 00:31:21,920 --> 00:31:28,460 And yet God chooses this one and that one and another one and almost capriciously overlooks 354 00:31:28,460 --> 00:31:29,460 the rest. 355 00:31:29,460 --> 00:31:34,320 And then they go on their way despite what they would have wanted. 356 00:31:34,320 --> 00:31:41,020 My friend, such a concept is almost blasphemous to mention from the pulpit. 357 00:31:41,020 --> 00:31:44,720 Because that is not the way that man is. 358 00:31:44,720 --> 00:31:49,240 Man is a hater of God. 359 00:31:49,240 --> 00:31:54,440 He has enmity with God. 360 00:31:54,440 --> 00:31:57,720 He runs from God. 361 00:31:57,720 --> 00:32:00,800 There is none that seeks after God. 362 00:32:00,800 --> 00:32:04,440 There is not one who gropes after him. 363 00:32:04,440 --> 00:32:09,640 Oh, yes, man is religious. 364 00:32:09,640 --> 00:32:13,000 But he does not want the truth. 365 00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:15,560 He does not want the living God. 366 00:32:15,560 --> 00:32:21,000 He wants a religion that will comfort him and will tell him he is not so bad after all. 367 00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:22,960 That's the religion he wants. 368 00:32:22,960 --> 00:32:27,200 Or he wants a religion that will allow him to work for his salvation. 369 00:32:27,200 --> 00:32:30,240 So he has something in which to boast. 370 00:32:30,240 --> 00:32:33,980 But that is not God's salvation. 371 00:32:33,980 --> 00:32:36,360 That is man's salvation. 372 00:32:36,360 --> 00:32:41,980 And it is worthless, worthless. 373 00:32:41,980 --> 00:32:52,600 The fact that God has graciously chosen any from suffering is evidence of his mercy and 374 00:32:52,600 --> 00:32:55,120 his grace. 375 00:32:55,120 --> 00:32:57,720 Because all of us deserve that same judgment. 376 00:32:57,720 --> 00:33:02,320 We were all haters of God, despisers of the good. 377 00:33:02,320 --> 00:33:08,000 But God in his mercy foreknew us. 378 00:33:08,000 --> 00:33:11,760 Then someone says, if some are elected and others are not, then surely those who are 379 00:33:11,760 --> 00:33:15,200 not elected are not held responsible for their sins, are they? 380 00:33:15,200 --> 00:33:18,800 As a matter of fact, they are. 381 00:33:18,800 --> 00:33:26,220 I want you to turn to Romans chapter 2. 382 00:33:26,220 --> 00:33:27,840 Look at verse 4. 383 00:33:27,840 --> 00:33:32,160 Maybe after what we've said, you'll understand why Paul says what he does here. 384 00:33:32,160 --> 00:33:39,560 Because he speaks to a very sincere moralist who refuses to accept Christ. 385 00:33:39,560 --> 00:33:46,800 He says, do you think lightly of the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? 386 00:33:46,800 --> 00:33:47,800 Watch this. 387 00:33:47,800 --> 00:33:52,600 Not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance. 388 00:33:52,600 --> 00:33:55,240 What leads a person to repentance? 389 00:33:55,240 --> 00:33:56,240 His own will? 390 00:33:56,240 --> 00:33:57,640 His own free will? 391 00:33:57,640 --> 00:34:00,880 No, the kindness of God. 392 00:34:00,880 --> 00:34:05,600 But because of your stubbornness, now here is the real heart of man. 393 00:34:05,600 --> 00:34:12,880 Because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself 394 00:34:12,880 --> 00:34:18,680 in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render 395 00:34:18,680 --> 00:34:22,040 to every man according to his deeds. 396 00:34:22,040 --> 00:34:27,000 My friend, every man is held accountable to God for his sins. 397 00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:34,680 Now, when the sovereignty of God is preached this way, as it is not very often, frankly, 398 00:34:34,680 --> 00:34:40,160 there are those who say, I reject that. 399 00:34:40,160 --> 00:34:45,640 Before you say that, be careful. 400 00:34:45,640 --> 00:34:54,520 Be sure that you have studied the word of God and know what you say you are rejecting. 401 00:34:54,520 --> 00:34:59,740 As a matter of fact, I believe that all Christians believe in the sovereignty of God whether 402 00:34:59,740 --> 00:35:07,180 they know it or not and whether they would admit it or not. 403 00:35:07,180 --> 00:35:12,640 Because I believe in the first place, every Christian will pray. 404 00:35:12,640 --> 00:35:20,120 And prayer is evidence that one believes in the sovereignty of God, or else why pray? 405 00:35:20,120 --> 00:35:26,640 Prayer is a recognition that God is the source of all good things. 406 00:35:26,640 --> 00:35:29,360 Prayer is not trying to coerce God out of something. 407 00:35:29,360 --> 00:35:33,320 It is simply indicating dependence upon God. 408 00:35:33,320 --> 00:35:38,960 And we pray and evidence our dependence because we know he is sovereign. 409 00:35:38,960 --> 00:35:45,920 And then I believe every Christian believes in the sovereignty of God because he thanks 410 00:35:45,920 --> 00:35:48,200 God for his salvation. 411 00:35:48,200 --> 00:35:56,080 That little chorus that we used to sing doesn't say, thank you, me, for saving my soul. 412 00:35:56,080 --> 00:35:59,320 Thank you, me, for making me whole. 413 00:35:59,320 --> 00:36:01,360 Does it? 414 00:36:01,360 --> 00:36:06,800 It doesn't even say, thank you God in me for saving my soul. 415 00:36:06,800 --> 00:36:08,520 Does it? 416 00:36:08,520 --> 00:36:13,940 It says, thank you God for saving my soul. 417 00:36:13,940 --> 00:36:21,480 Thank you God for making me whole. 418 00:36:21,480 --> 00:36:26,320 Then I believe that every Christian really believes in the sovereignty of God because 419 00:36:26,320 --> 00:36:30,820 he prays for others to be saved. 420 00:36:30,820 --> 00:36:36,400 Why should we pray that if we don't believe that God is sovereign? 421 00:36:36,400 --> 00:36:40,520 Someone came after the first service and asked a legitimate question. 422 00:36:40,520 --> 00:36:45,560 How should I pray if I don't know who the elect are? 423 00:36:45,560 --> 00:36:48,760 And that's a legitimate question. 424 00:36:48,760 --> 00:36:53,000 The answer to that is, we don't know, we can't know who the elect are, therefore let 425 00:36:53,000 --> 00:36:56,880 us pray because that's what God has told us to do. 426 00:36:56,880 --> 00:37:04,940 Then let him decide how to apply our prayers. 427 00:37:04,940 --> 00:37:08,320 Someone else says, well you talk about the sovereignty of God but I can't understand 428 00:37:08,320 --> 00:37:09,320 it. 429 00:37:09,320 --> 00:37:12,560 Congratulations. 430 00:37:12,560 --> 00:37:16,960 Welcome to the redeemed human race. 431 00:37:16,960 --> 00:37:18,480 Because we can't understand this. 432 00:37:18,480 --> 00:37:19,720 This is beyond us. 433 00:37:19,720 --> 00:37:22,160 We can't reconcile it. 434 00:37:22,160 --> 00:37:25,320 It's one of those things that is known to the Lord. 435 00:37:25,320 --> 00:37:31,960 Deuteronomy 29, 29 says, the secret things belong to the Lord and this is one of them. 436 00:37:31,960 --> 00:37:36,080 You see it's an antinomy because it talks in the Bible about the sovereignty of God 437 00:37:36,080 --> 00:37:40,880 and yet the responsibility of man and the two work together perfectly to accomplish 438 00:37:40,880 --> 00:37:44,560 God's purpose but we don't know how. 439 00:37:44,560 --> 00:37:45,680 Therefore we leave it with God. 440 00:37:45,680 --> 00:37:48,420 His ways are higher than ours. 441 00:37:48,420 --> 00:37:58,600 The real proper response to this kind of a message that God foreknew is praise God. 442 00:37:58,600 --> 00:38:05,000 Praise God because if it were not for that truth my friend that God foreknew you, you 443 00:38:05,000 --> 00:38:09,160 would not be sitting here today as a redeemed child of God. 444 00:38:09,160 --> 00:38:15,560 You would still be lost, utterly lost and hopeless in sin. 445 00:38:15,560 --> 00:38:20,600 If you have never trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior you cannot legitimately say, well 446 00:38:20,600 --> 00:38:24,040 I guess I'm not one of the elect. 447 00:38:24,040 --> 00:38:25,240 Because you cannot know that. 448 00:38:25,240 --> 00:38:29,720 As a matter of fact if you will trust Jesus Christ that's evidence that you are. 449 00:38:29,720 --> 00:38:33,880 And the invitation is open to you that if you will trust on the name of the Lord you 450 00:38:33,880 --> 00:38:36,080 shall be saved. 451 00:38:36,080 --> 00:38:38,400 Will you do it? 452 00:38:38,400 --> 00:38:40,560 Will you do it? 453 00:38:40,560 --> 00:38:42,880 Will you choose to do it? 454 00:38:42,880 --> 00:38:47,560 D.L. Moody said as you approach the gate of salvation over it says, for whosoever will 455 00:38:47,560 --> 00:38:48,560 may come. 456 00:38:48,560 --> 00:38:52,840 And that's the invitation to you. 457 00:38:52,840 --> 00:38:57,360 But as we enter through the portal of salvation and trust Jesus Christ and look back on that 458 00:38:57,360 --> 00:39:03,360 same gate through which we've passed, it says on this side, chosen in him before the 459 00:39:03,360 --> 00:39:08,720 foundation of the world. 460 00:39:08,720 --> 00:39:13,240 Will you trust Jesus Christ as your Savior this morning? 461 00:39:13,240 --> 00:39:18,440 As a child of God are you walking worthy of your calling? 462 00:39:18,440 --> 00:39:24,640 Next week we will go on to talk about predestination and the calling of God. 463 00:39:24,640 --> 00:39:26,640 Join us. 464 00:39:26,640 --> 00:39:38,320 Thank you for this truth as deep and mysterious as it is. 465 00:39:38,320 --> 00:39:47,520 Thank you for revealing it to us so that we could sit in awe and marvel at your grace 466 00:39:47,520 --> 00:39:52,960 that saves any of us. 467 00:39:52,960 --> 00:40:00,560 And I pray today that your purpose will be accomplished in this service and in our lives. 468 00:40:00,560 --> 00:40:10,200 Having beheld the glory of our calling, may we now walk as children of God in this world. 469 00:40:10,200 --> 00:40:26,560 In Jesus' name, amen.