the People Who Died Before Christ? What Happened to the People Who Died Before Christ? Pastor Jon Fulton April 30, 2017 Series: You Asked

8 And all the people who belong to this world worshiped the beast 8 And all the people who belong to this world worshiped the beast. They are the ones whose names were not written in the Book of Life before the world was made—the Book that belongs to the Lamb who was slaughtered. --Revelation 13:8 (NLT)

4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. --Ephesians 1:4 (NLT)

20 God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but he has now revealed him to you in these last days. --1 Peter 1:20 (NLT)

God’s people who died before Jesus were saved because…

God’s people who died before Jesus were saved because… 1. They understood grace

--Psalm 32:1-5 (NLT) 1 Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight! 2 Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt,* whose lives are lived in complete honesty! 3 When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long. 4 Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. (cont’d) --Psalm 32:1-5 (NLT)

--Psalm 32:1-5 (NLT) My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. 5 Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone. --Psalm 32:1-5 (NLT)

declared righteous without working for it... 6 David also spoke of this when he described the happiness of those who are declared righteous without working for it... --Romans 4:6 (NLT)

13 All these people died still believing what God had promised them 13 All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. --Hebrews 11:13 (NLT)

6 We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind. --Isaiah 64:6 (NLT)

6 You take no delight in sacrifices or offerings. Now that you have made me listen, I finally understand*— you don’t require burnt offerings or sin offerings. --Psalm 40:6 (NLT)

God’s people who died before Jesus were saved because…

God’s people who died before Jesus were saved because… 2. They expected a Messiah

15 And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike* your head, and you will strike his heel.” --Genesis 3:15 (NLT)

8 “God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham answered. And they both walked on together. --Genesis 22:8 (NLT)

3 “For the Scriptures tell us, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”* --Romans 4:3 (NLT)

29 The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law. --Deuteronomy 29:29 (NIV)

• Enoch said “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones”

• Moses said, “I choose to be mistreated with the people of God” (Hebrews 11:26)

• Job said “I know that my Redeemer lives” (Job 19:25-26)

God’s people who died before Jesus were saved because…

3. They responded to God’s plan God’s people who died before Jesus were saved because… 3. They responded to God’s plan

17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. --James 2:17 (NLT)

but the faith that saves Faith alone saves, but the faith that saves is never alone.

--2 Corinthians 5:19-20 (NLT) 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” --2 Corinthians 5:19-20 (NLT)

the People Who Died Before Christ? What Happened to the People Who Died Before Christ? Pastor Jon Fulton April 30, 2017 Series: You Asked