Well, good evening. I'm glad
to see everyone was able to make it tonight. Appreciate your prayers
for me and my family. Everything checked out with with
me. It seemed just pretty much the same answer.
Nobody knows. Nobody knows. Lord knows. And so we ask God
to be gracious. And I thank you for your prayers
and And above that, I ask for your prayers as I preach this
message. I've been desiring to preach
this message for quite a while now. And it is a message that I must tread
with great reverence. It is a message that I must I
know it is true according to this text. I have looked at this
so many times. And every time I look at it,
the things that are said here, they must be said with reverence.
You cannot say them lightly because we're going to jump off the deep
end of the pool tonight. We're going to talk about things
that we're not going to be able to understand or reconcile. But
these are truths about God. And to tell you the truth, if
we can fathom God and His justice, then we missed it. Paul says
His ways are unsearchable, and His judgments are past finding
out. And so I dare not try to excuse
or to rationalize the text. I desire to preach it as it stands
and do so with utmost reverence to God and honor to His name
tonight. So that's what I ask for you
to pray for me, that I would declare this plainly, clearly,
but even if I say it plainly, it's not going to register. It's a truth that must be bowed
to. I know God's vessels of mercy
will bow to this because we we're so thankful for mercy. I don't
have to understand everything God does. I don't have to understand
how it all works. I just bow and it gives us a
greater reverence for God. And so pray for me as I want
to preach this to you tonight. Let's go to him in prayer. Our
gracious Father, we thank you. We thank you that you have brought
us to this place. You, Father, by the hand of mercy
and by the hand of grace, you've given us strength and a desire
to come. And Father, we plead with you
this night that you would be gracious to us And make your word go forth in
power and demonstration of your spirit, that you would forgive
us our sins. Father, that those that are sick,
those who are suffering in the body, that you might give them
healing strength. And Father, those suffering in
the mind and the heart, that you would encourage them. I pray this word would go out
in power of demonstration of your spirit, that everyone that
hears it should, by grace and power of
your spirit, submit to it. And Father, just stand in awe
of your judgments, of your justice, of your holiness, of your perfections,
and of your sovereign right over all men. And I ask you to do this in the
name of Jesus, our savior, and for the glory of Christ, our
Lord. Amen. All right, take your Bibles and
turn with me to Romans chapter nine. Romans chapter nine. Tonight,
our text will be found in verse 18 through verse 24. Before I read this to you, I
want to give you the synopsis of what we've gone over before.
Remember, in this chapter, there are three objections to the sovereignty
of God. Three objections to the sovereignty
of God. The first has to do with the
Word of God, saying the Jews were promised salvation, and
now that they have rejected the Messiah, the dissenters would
come in and say, is the Word of God void? God promised to
save Israel. Israel is lost. Is God's Word
void? No, Paul says in verse 6, not
as though the Word of God is of none effect. Why? Because
there are two distinct Israels. because those that are of Israel
nationally are not of those who are of Israel spiritually. So Israel is a type of the true
Israel of God, the spiritual Israel. Well, who are they? He
begins to describe them by Ishmael and Isaac and then Jacob and
Esau. In the instance of Jacob and Esau, Isaac and Esau, Ishmael. Man, my mind is, give me a second.
It'll come around. In the instance of Isaac and
Ishmael, Ishmael was the promised one. And Isaac was a promised
one. Ishmael was the rejected one.
Then he goes even further concerning the sons of Isaac. And he says
this, the children not yet being born, neither having done good
or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might
stand. not of works, but of him that
calleth. It said to her, the elder shall
serve the younger as it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau
have I hated. So then we see that Israel is
made up of the elect. Those loved of God, those chosen
of God, not of works, but of what mercy. And he answers the
objection, the next objection comes in verse 14. What shall we say then to this?
Is there unrighteousness with God? Now this is the objection
of the work monger. The objection of work salvation. Well, if salvation is by the
election of grace, then what about works? Is God unrighteous? No, he answers by what he said
to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I'll have mercy, I'll have
compassion on whom I'll have compassion, and the conclusion
is what? So then, it's not of him that willeth, or him that
runneth, but what? God that showeth mercy. Election
is of mercy. It's not of will. No one that
is, every believer is willing to believe, but that didn't,
that wasn't the basis of our election. Neither was our running
or our working. What was it? It was the mercy
of God. Well, what about the reprobate? Then he starts talking
about the reprobate in verse 17. He said, for the scripture
saith unto Pharaoh, even for the same purpose have I raised
thee up that I might show my power in thee and that my name
might be declared throughout all the earth. So the reprobate,
those who are hated of God, what about them? Well, they have a
purpose. They have a purpose, and this
is the purpose. To do whatsoever God had determined that they
do. Pharaoh was raised up for the
purpose of not letting Israel go. Ten times in Exodus we read
this, God hardened Pharaoh's heart. Before Moses even came to Pharaoh,
he said this to Moses, he will not let you go. You know why? God had already determined that
Pharaoh was not going to let them go. Why? God had purpose
to destroy Pharaoh. Everything Pharaoh did was to
that end. And so then, what is his conclusion
about this? Therefore, here's the conclusion
of every bit of this, he hath mercy on whom he will. Well,
who does he have mercy on? Whom he will. That's it. And listen to this, Whom He will,
He hardeneth. Whom He will, He hardeneth. His mercy is displayed upon sinful
men by sending His Son into this world, obtaining our salvation. That's an act of mercy, isn't
it? To send Christ into this world. It was an act of mercy to call
us. And we're going to see this.
We were no different than any of the sons of Adam. There was
no difference in us. And in mercy, God called us. Why? He said, I'll have mercy
on whom I will. That's the only reason why you
can ever say God had mercy on you. Nothing you've ever done
or ever going to do is going to merit that mercy. And so behold the mercy of God.
But now then behold the justice of God is displayed upon the
reprobate in this. He hardeneth whom he will. Isn't
that something? Two people sitting there listening
to the gospel. One despises it and goes away. One receives it. Who made the
difference? God did. But I'll tell you this. God didn't just give permission
to the reprobate. He decreed it. He decreed it. And I want to say this with all
reverence. When I'm talking about God's
acts upon the reprobate, there is in no way any stain of sin
belongs to God. None of it. God neither tempts
man with sin, nor is He guilty of any transgression. God, when He communicates reprobation,
is not the same as He communicates grace. When He communicates grace
upon the sinner, what does He do? He adds something, doesn't
He? He adds to us a holy nature that
was not there before. When God works upon the heart
of the reprobate, what does He add? Nothing. He adds nothing
to the reprobate. The sin of the reprobate is already
there. He moves it. He manipulates it. He uses it as He pleases, but
He is in no wise guilty of it. No wise guilty of it. And so then I say this, God regulates
the hearts of men, the actions of men, not even just the hearts
of men, the actions of men. I'm going to give you some illustrations. And this is, again, where we're
going to jump off the deep end a little bit, because I'm going
to get to the objection here in a minute and the answer to
it. But consider the cross. Consider the cross. It was determined that Christ
should die by crucifixion. Peter tells us that. He said,
ìHim being delivered by the determinant counsel and foreknowledge of
God, you by weakened hands have crucified the Lord.î Now, how many times did they want
to kill Christ before the time? They picked up stones. His very
first message, they want to throw him off a cliff. Did they do
it? No. They picked up stones, one
to stone him. Did they do it? No. Why? God said no. You see what he
did to their hearts? They wanted to kill him, and
God said no. He restrained them. Then came
the time of the crucifixion, and the Jews said, we cannot
kill him on Passover. And God said, you will kill him
on Passover. And they did. They did. Acts chapter four and verse 27,
the saints in that time said that the Gentiles and the Jews
and Herod and Pontius Pilate, listen to these words. did whatsoever
thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. What'd they
do? Exactly what God determined to do. Exactly what God determined to
do. Now to the believer, this should
comfort you. That every act of every evil
man is totally under the control of God. Absolutely. They can
do nothing. without His divine command. It's astonishing. This should
comfort us that all the hearts of men and actions of men are
in His hands. I'll repeat this, the Lord made
all things for Himself, yea, even the wicked for the day of
evil. Another illustration of God using
evil acts, consider Joseph. Remember God gave him all those
prophecies and boy gave, determined that his dad give him that coat
of many colors just to take off his brothers. And he did. That
made them so mad. All of those prophecies, each
one, they got madder and more, they just hated him even more
until the boiling point. And they said, let's grab him.
You think it was an accident his dad sent him out there on
that time, at that day, to check on his brothers? They grabbed
him and they said, let's kill him. Is it any accident? And Reuben said, we can't kill
him. Let's throw him in a pit. Oh,
wait, just so happens there's some traders coming by. Let's
sell him. Then all that took place, and
then you get to the end of it, what Joseph said. Joseph said,
you meant it for evil, but, listen to this, God meant it. God decreed it, purposed it. Now you're guilty of it, but
God purposed it to save much people alive. I'm going to give you some other
ones and I won't let you chew on these because I think it's
vital for you to see how much God controls me. Go to. See here. And I want to say this when God
is performing his will on the depraved man, listen, he is not
just giving permission to do evil. It is far more intrusive. He is not just giving permission
to sin, but he is actually decreeing it for his own sovereign purpose. Go to 2 Chronicles chapter 18.
2 Chronicles chapter 18. Let's see. Look at verse 19. It's talking
about Ahab. Ahab's going to die. And we get a scene from what
is seen. And it says in verse 19, And
the Lord said, Who shall entice Ahab, the king of Israel, that
he may go up at Ramoth-Gilead, fall at Ramoth-Gilead? And one
spake, saying after this manner, Another saying after that matter,
And there came out a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and
said, I will entice him. And the LORD said, Go unto him.
Wherewith? And he said, I will go out and
be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And the
LORD said, Thou shalt entice him, and thou shalt also prevail. Go out and do even so. God sent a lying spirit into
the mouth of his prophets to kill that man Ahab. And in no way is God chargeable
with any sin. I told you he'd step off the
deep end. Go to Ezekiel chapter 14. Ezekiel
chapter 14 and look at verse 9. Let's go back to verse 8. God
said, I will set my face against that man and I will make him
a sign and a proverb and will cut him off from the midst of
my people. And you shall know that I am
the Lord. And if a prophet be deceived when he hath spoken
a thing, I the Lord have deceived that prophet. And I will stretch
out my hand upon him and will destroy him from the midst of
my people Israel." God said, deceived him, and listen to this,
he will suffer for it. His being deceived, he'll suffer
for it. Very well-known instance, what
about Judas? How many scriptures do we have
prophesying of his betrayal? He is the son of perdition. In Zechariah chapter 11 and verse
12 and 13, God even testifies of how much money he's going
to get. The price of redemption, 30 pieces of silver. In Psalm chapter 47, I think
it is, the prophecy is, My own familiar friend has lifted up
his heel against me. And we know in Psalm 109, the
whole Psalm is talking about the destruction of Judas. How that he is going to betray
it and yet he himself will suffer the consequences of it. And I could go on and on, these
are just instances. When God says, whom he will,
he hardeneth, he's not giving permission to harden them. He's
actually doing it. Yet he himself is devoid of any
blame. God is devoid of any blame whatsoever. And the man, listen to this,
is fully responsible for it. Now we come to the objection
of all free will religion. This is the objection. Read the
objection, and this is what every free will religion will tell
you. This is why they object to God's
sovereign election, that why they reject of God's total, absolute
sovereignty over all men, that man's got to have a will, he's
got to have a will, because if he doesn't, then God can't charge
him with sin. I just read you several accounts
where God already purposed it. The man is going to do it. He
does it and he's charged with it. And what is the objection
of free will religion? Look at this in verse 19. He said, thou will say unto me,
he has mercy on whom he will and whom he will, he hardened
it. Listen, is it what you're going to say? Why did he yet
find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
Listen, if he decreed that Judas should be the betrayer and Judas
had no choice, no free will, he was going to betray, then
how can God blame him? Isn't this the objection? Seeing God's will is going to
happen, seeing he cannot have anything to object. then how can God decree it and
then find fault? Friends, I told you we are going
to jump off the end because in actuality, this is true, that
God does decree it and yet he will find fault. God is absolutely sovereign and
man is absolutely, totally responsible. Can you reconcile these things?
Absolutely not. See, this is where the free will
guy thinks he's got you. He thinks, aha, I found something
he can't answer. You can find a lot of things
I can't answer. That doesn't make it so. Matter of fact, the
apostle is going to give you three answers. Three answers
to the objections of free will. Now this is, again, go everywhere
in the world and ask men if they have a free will. To them it's
common knowledge, right? When you ask them if they have
a free will, they'll look at you like you're a strange bird. Because they think they've already
settled this. No. God is sovereign and you're responsible. Can't reconcile that. You know
what Paul says? Who cares? Look at his answer. Here's his
first answer. No, no, but old man, who are you
to reply against God? The first objection puts man
in his proper place. Though he cannot understand the
justice of God, the judgments of God, the wisdom of God in
this matter, he must take his place in this. You will not charge God with
sin, and yet God is sovereign. Who do you think you are replying
against God? Behold here the pride and presumption
of man to look into the deep things of God and try to find
fault. Though you can't put those two
things together, and you'll never be able to, don't think you can
by your thinking. Come around and find out how
you're going to put those two things together. I've stated
a truth that I can't reconcile. But the apostle tells us this,
who do you think you are? Matter of fact, the apostle is
really answering with scripture. His answer is the same as Isaiah
45. Look at Isaiah 45. And like I said, the apostle
throughout this whole thing has been answering with scripture
the whole time, hasn't he? He's not been putting forth opinions. The objections are opinions,
but his answers are scriptural. Look at Isaiah 45 in verse 9.
Let me get over there. God says, Woe unto him that striveth
with his maker. All who pose such an objection, they're not striving with me.
All who believe in free will, you're not striving with me.
I hope you understand that. You're not striving with me because
I can't, your question, sure, you've just jumped off the precipice
and I can't really give you a solid answer as to how to reconcile
that in my mind. Nobody can. But what you are
doing now is you stop striving with me and you're striving with
God. Woe unto you that strive with
your maker. Let the potsherds strive with
the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say unto him that
fashioneth, why hast thou made me thus? Or thy work he hath
no hands. In other words, two objections
here. Paul says it. The apostle says
it's like a clay. You got a potter and he's going
to make something. Have you ever heard the clay
stood up and say, what are you going to make? Did you actually know what God
was going to make with you? You have no clue, do you? Why? You're not the potter. You're
the clay. And notice it is, he hath no
hands. What do men say? Well, that's God doesn't have
the right. That's like the clay saying to the potter, you have
no hands. You have no right. You have no
power to do this. What a foolish thing. Why? Because our God has decreed everything. To strive against this is nothing
but a great display of pride of the
creature against the greater wisdom of God. It's to think
his judgment, it's to object of his judgment
concerning what he does with his creation. A proud man says you have no
right to do that. Man must have a free will. God
wouldn't be just if you don't have a free will. That's their
argument, isn't it? How can God find fault if I don't
have a free will? Who do you think you are? He just told you whom he will
he hardeneth. And you're going to reply against
that? Remember what God said in Isaiah
46 and verse 10? He said, verse 9, remember the former
things of old. I am God, there is none else.
I am God, there's none like me, declaring the end from the beginning,
from ancient times of things that were not yet done. Saying
what? I'll give man a choice. What a foolish thought. God doesn't
say that. I declared the end from the beginning,
even the things not yet done, saying this, my counsel shall
stand and I will do all my pleasure. What is he doing? What is God
doing? All his pleasure. That's what
he's doing right now, as he has from the beginning. He's doing
his pleasure. And then he tells you that illustration,
calling a ravenous bird from these. Cyrus, a man who did not
know me, he does never, I'm not going to save him. He is not
my sheep, and I am going to use him. I'm going to open up all
these gates for him. I'm going to go ahead, and he's
going to conquer, and he's going to, everywhere, everything he
touches is going to turn to gold. Everything. Why? Because I'm going to use
him to get my people into the land. Called him by name, a hundred
years before he was born. Called him by name. Old Nebuchadnezzar found that
out, didn't he? Pride was found in his heart. You got that? God
saw it in his heart. Put him out in the field for
seven years to eat grass. And when God let his eyes open
up, he said this about God. He said, I praised and honored
him that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion,
whose kingdom is from generation to generation. and all the inhabitants
of the earth are reputed as nothing. And he doeth according to his
will in the armies of heaven, listen, and among the inhabitants
of the earth. Why? Who can stay his hand? Or say in him, what doest thou? So then let us, as Paul does
here, cease to try to use mere human wisdom to understand this, but rather, in submission, bow
to the judgments of God that are past finding out. I can't
figure that out. I know that everything's determined
of God, and I know this man is totally responsible for his sin. God's not gonna be charged with
sin. Yet he decrees it. Yet he decrees
it. So let us, as objects of grace,
not even raise up our head, but let us behold and wonder at God's
incomprehensible sovereignty. That his sovereignty permeates
through every part of his creation. That none is outside his will. to do whatsoever He determines
to be done. Go back to your text. That's
the first answer. Who do you think you are? Here's a second answer. He uses
this metaphor, this spiritual metaphor of the potter and the
clay. He says, Shall the thing form, saying to him that form
it, why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over
the clay? of the same lump to make one
vessel to honor and another to dishonor. Paul, using this spiritual
metaphor, shows two things. First of all, the absurdity of
the creature striving with his maker. It's absurd. You've never
seen it. You've never seen Clay argue
with a potter, have you? Ever. He said, you arguing with
God about who you are, what he does with you, is absurd. Why? He's the potter and you're
not. What he's telling you, you're
not. The second thing is the sovereign and just power
of God over men. He tells us that he's going to
make men as he pleases. He's going to make men as He
pleases, either a vessel of honor or a vessel of dishonor. Now,
who makes it? Who makes the vessel of honor?
God does. Listen to this. Who makes the
vessel of dishonor? I know that a lot of sovereign
grace preachers don't like to mention that part, What God just
said, I'm going to make these vessels of honor, and this is
just a consequence over here. I'm not really concerned about.
No, no, God is just as involved in the one as he is the other. Because he is the just and holy
potter who has power over the clay, he makes men as he will.
This not only testifies of his divine right, but also that his
action, either in election or reprobation, is his divine right. God has a divine right in either
choosing to salvation or reprobation. It's his right. It's not yours. To make one vessel to honor and
another to dishonor, it's not only his right. It's in perfect
harmony with his holy character. It is in perfect harmony with
his holy character. I will have mercy. On whom? On whom I'll have mercy. And
you know what? Whom I will, I'll harden him. It's in perfect character
with his holy, perfect harmony with his holy character. Now, remember, this attack is
really the attack of free will is an attack on God's sovereignty,
on the holy character of God. It is saying this, that God has
no right to impose upon your free will. And so when the potter molds
the clay, he forms whatever he pleases. I watched one. I had
to. I had to watch. I had to look
at it. I wanted to watch, see how pottery
was made. I never really paid any attention, never had any
interest in it. I watched it. And boy, that guy,
he was so skilled. He took this piece of clay and
he popped it down and showed how it's got to have air pockets,
got to be taken out of it. And if I don't take the air pockets
out, when I put it in the fryer, it'll burst. You know what? God
doesn't take out the sin, what's going to happen? When He puts
it to fire, it's going to burn. It's going to break. And He took
that piece of clay and He threw it on that wheel and He moved
His hands in certain ways and shaped that thing. He'd bring
it up and He'd push it down. He'd bring it up and He'd push
it down, just as He pleased. No objection could be made by
the clay. It is in His right. and his skill
to move the clay as he pleases to whatever he wants to make
in his mind. Now, here a guy had something
pretty in his mind. It didn't look pretty when he
started. I didn't know what in the world that guy was going
to make. He kept moving it and shaping it and bending it. I
said, how in the world is that going to look like a vase or
something? And when he got done, scraping,
and chipping, and moving. He's got these little tools he
uses to scrape away the clay. And when he was done, that thing's
just a beautiful work of art. He could have made a bedpan,
couldn't he? God is the potter, and we're
the clay. And he molds us as he pleases. Would I call that
potter a monster? No, it's His right. Neither does God do injustice
to men to exercise His power over His creatures. God does
you no injustice. To make you whatsoever He wants
to make you, He does no injustice to you. Why? Notice this word. Go back
to your text. Look at what He says. Hath not the potter power over
the clay, listen to these words, of the same lump. Notice there's no lump for the
elect and lump for the reprobate. The elect, the vessels of honor,
are taken from the same lump of clay as the vessels of dishonor. So when he molds a vessel of
honor, he has to add something to it. Why? Because we all came from the
lump of Adam. We all came from a fallen race. We were all born conceived in
sin, dead in sin, come forth speaking lies. We are all haters
of God, despisers of his gospel. We could never obtain merit or
favor with God to be a vessel of mercy. So in order to make
us a vessel of honor, God had to do something for us of his
own volition. Now to make a vessel of dishonor,
what did he have to do? Nothing. He doesn't have anything
to it. He just shapes it as it is. Does
no dishonor to it to shape it as it is. You see, we're all worthy of
being vessels of dishonor. That's the point. We all are
worthy of being vessels of dishonor. God might injustice have done
away with the whole lump. But in order to display his grace,
he justly chose to save some. And to dispense his holy justice
and hatred towards sin, to display his holy hatred towards sin,
he determined to reprobate others. Doesn't this abase you? Doesn't
this bring you to nothing? It should, because this is how
things really are. This is how it really is. Does the truth not abase all
the pride of man that God's chief end is this, his own glory? Whatever
God does with a man shows him mercy or in reprobation. Mercy
or hardening him. Listen to me. God does everything
for His own glory. God does everything for His own
glory. I just read that. The Lord made all things for
Himself. You got that? We like to think
He made it for us. Even the wicked for the day of
evil. So we boldly assert that God
will justly do with His creatures as He pleases. And the assurance of this is
His own nature, for God cannot do anything unjust. Do you know
that? Do you as believers understand
that? There is nothing God can do that's unjust. So we read that God is a sovereign
potter. He takes of the same lump of
fallen man and makes a vessel of honor and a vessel of dishonor. And this is done according to
his holy character and by his active power. Again, God is not
giving permission for men to be vessels of dishonor, but acting
upon them according to his sovereign will. Now some, We'll seek to
take this text and do with it what they did before with the
other text. Remember what I said they did? He does, for Jacob
have I loved, but Esau have I hated less. I told you, if you can do that
to that, you can also reverse the other one and say, for Jacob
have I hated less and Esau have I loved less. It
doesn't work. And a lot of people are going
to take this text and they do this. They'll say, well, he makes
a vessel of honor and it makes a vessel of less honor. You're totally destroying the
objection then. If that were so, there would
be no objection. Why? Because you would have some
honor. You would have some say. You would have some will by which
you can be a vessel of dishonor. I'm a vessel of dishonor because
I chose to be. There's no doubt you did choose. There's no doubt
you did want to be. But I know this, God decreed
that you should be. And so they want to flip it around,
but that doesn't That doesn't suffice. It just does away with
the objection, and the scripture becomes null and void here. There's
no reason for the text at all if you try to do that. Now, these vessels of dishonor,
as well as the vessels of honor, are taken from the same lung.
So then, we go with Paul, and we say, ask this question, and
who makes thee to differ from another? You that believe, listen
to me, why are you vessels of mercy? Why are you vessels of honor? Who made the difference? Who is to receive the glory for
what God has done for you? Who maketh thee to differ from
another, and what hast thou that hast not received? And if you
received it, why do you glory as though you didn't? We do that. It's a sad thing when a believer
glories in grace. You can't glory in grace. You
can only glory in the God of grace. You can't glory in that
you obtained grace by something you did. There's no pride in
it. So in his objection, his answer,
He does away with all pride. He says, first of all, who are
you? Doesn't the potter have power over the clay to make one
vessel to honor another to dishonor? Why? It's no injustice because
he does it out of the same lump. Here's his third answer. Look
at this. Verse 22. What if God willing to show his
wrath and to make his power known endured with much long-suffering
the vessels of wrath fitted for destruction, and that he might
make known the riches of his glory to the vessels of mercy
which he had aforeprepared unto glory." Here God manifests in
these two things for two reasons. Why does God do this? I told
you God's going to do everything for His own glory, okay? And in these two vessels, God
is displaying His character. In the vessels of mercy, He is
going to display His grace. In the vessels of wrath, what
is He going to do? He is going to display His justice. He's going to display His justice.
Hear God manifest His anger against those. He said, what if God willing
to show His wrath? What are the vessels of destruction
for? What is He going to show in the end? What is going to
be the great display of the vessels of wrath? He's going to show
His hatred for sin. He's going to show His holy justice
on them. While on the other, he has chose
to do this, something much different, to show his love and grace on
the objects of his mercy. Now, by the reprobate vessel
of dishonor, God intends to manifest his wrath. Sin entered into this
world, into God's creation by divine decree. You understand
that? People ask, why'd God put that
tree there? Because God wanted to put the tree there. Who are
you? What do you think? Why do you
think people ask that question? Because they think they can do
better. Oh, you're wiser than God. Okay.
Idiot. You're a fool. You're a fool.
Sin came into this world by the decree of God, and yet God is
not chargeable with it. Not at all. Not by accident. But God ordained
it for the purpose to show His hatred of it. How else would
you know the hatred of God towards sin had there been no sin? God
determined it to manifest the glory of His justice. And now sin has entered into
the world. God will make his power known
over sin. Doesn't he do that? How does
he do it? By ruling it and overruling it. We've mentioned all those examples
of what God did, especially Calvary, right? Judas was determined to
betray the Lord Jesus Christ. Pontius Pilate And the Jews and
the Gentiles did whatsoever the Lord had determined before should
be done. And you know what? Every one
of them that continued in their unbelief, listen to me, they
all died in their sins. God manifest his justice on them,
but yet in doing so, what did he do for the elect? What they
did was evil, but God had a better intention for us. that by the
death of Jesus Christ we should be saved. Psalm 76, 10, surely
the wrath of man shall praise thee. And what happens to the
rest? And the remainder of wrath thou
shalt restrain. Sin by nature dishonors God. But see the power of God to overrule
it for his glory, to use it as he pleases. And notice God's
reaction to it. Long suffering. There's a vessel
of wrath. He raises him up. He gives him
life. He gives him breath. He gives
him all the joys and pleasures that he has in his life. What has any man ever received
that's not been from God? Name one thing you've got that's
not of God. Everything is of God. And though
this man despise his gospel, hate his word, persecute his
church, curse God to his face, and yet God is what? You see the goodness of God,
the display of God's goodness to be long. You wouldn't be long
suffering with him. Imagine you had somebody every
day cursing you in your face, and yet you bought the food,
you paid for the house, you paid for their car, you take them
to work, you bring them home, you take them to school, and
every day they're just yelling at you, cursing at you. How long
would you suffer with him? And yet God is long-suffering
with him. Why? He's long-suffering with the
vessels of wrath. Note this, fitted for destruction.
You know a man is fitted for destruction by his own sin. God decrees it. You do it. But you ain't done nothing you
didn't want to do. When they killed Christ, they
did exactly what they wanted to do. They were fitting themselves
for destruction. And notice this, and here's the
second purpose of the potter, that he might make known the
riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy. The riches of his glory. What are the riches of his glory
that he makes known to the vessels of mercy? What does he make known
to us? The glory of his sovereign election. That's a glory he makes
known to us. that God chose us, purposed that He would make known
the glory and riches of His grace toward us. God said, I'm going to display
my grace toward you. according as He had chosen us in Christ
before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy
without blame before Him, in love, having predestined us according
to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ unto Himself, according
to the good pleasure of His will, listen, to the praise of the
glory of His grace, wherein He made us accepted in the Beloved. What else did He make known?
He made known that the glory of His redemption When Christ
came into the world, He made known that Christ is the Redeemer,
that Christ came and honored God's law in our stead, that
Christ redeemed us by His blood. He made known to us that Christ
is raised from the dead, that Christ ever lives to make intercession. He made known to us the riches
of His glory. Now, how did you know of His
election and redemption? Look at this. Verse 24, even
us whom he hath called. Now listen, we can know all there
is to know about God's sovereign election and reprobation. Know
all this. I think the most important question
is this, which one am I? You can bow to it. You can know
he does it. A lot of Calvinists bow to this. How do I know what God has made
me? The only difference is this word
called. Called. Even us. Who's us? He said, not the Jews,
only with the Gentiles also. Didn't matter what race you were.
Us who are called. That's who God makes known. the
riches of His glory to us who are called. Do you believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ? If you do, then you know you
can be assured of this. You're Israel. You're the one God promised to
save. And His Word's void. It's not
void. His Word's gonna do what He says.
What does it mean to be Israel? It means this, that I was chosen,
not by works, but by sovereign election. And I know this, God had mercy
when he sent Christ. That was the greatest act of
mercy that God could ever have, to take his son and offer him
for sinners. willing to show his grace to
them. And then in an act of mercy,
when I wasn't asking and I wasn't looking for it, God called us. When he called us, he did make
these things known to us. Did he make known the riches
of his glory to you? Where's that found? Well, that's
found in Jesus Christ, isn't it? That's the only place salvation
is found. I know that. I can't explain
how God sovereignly does all these things and man is absolutely,
totally 100% responsible. I can't explain that. Nobody
can. But you know what? I'm not going
to strive with my Maker. Why? He has been merciful to me. And I know this. If He was not
merciful to me, He still would be just. If he made me a vessel of wrath,
fitted for destruction, he would be just. But I'm so thankful that he didn't.
I'm so thankful that he made me a vessel of mercy. And because
it was the decree of God, who can stay his hand or stand in
what doest thou? I like that what the apostle
said, he that hath begun a good work in you. Who's gonna finish this? Boy,
I tell you, this pot looks like a mess. I mean, this clay pot,
you look at me now, and I'm a mess. But I have hope that he that
hath begun a good work in you shall perform it unto the day
of Jesus Christ. You know why? Because God determined that the
vessels of mercy should look just like his son. That's what
he tells us in chapter eight, wasn't it? He says that we were
ordained to be after the image of his son. That's what a vessel of mercy
is. So what do we do with these answers to objections of free
will? Nothing. Who are they to reply
against God? God's making vessels of mercy
and vessels of wrath. I don't know which one I am, even
us who are called. Are you cold? Well, you're a
vessel of mercy. You're a vessel of mercy. What's the distinction of the
vessels of wrath? They will not believe. They'll continue to strive with
their maker. They'll continue to base their
salvation on their works and their free will. That's an accurate
description of a vessel of wrath, fitting for destruction. They will not believe. I pray
God will bless this to you. We're going to look at that a
little bit more, the calling, next time of the vessels of mercy. I want to dig into what it is
to be called. What it is to be called. If you're
a vessel of mercy, you're going to see these things about the
calling of God and rejoice. We rejoice in the calling of
God, don't we? So glad that God has called me to believe. I never would have Had he not
called me to it. I pray God blesses this to you.
Let stand be dismissed. Gracious Father dismisses with
your blessing. I pray that you should exalt
your own name. Glorify your own self. Get your
own self glory. You are and there is none else. You declare
the end from the beginning, from ancient times, saying the things
that are not yet done, saying my counsel shall stand, and I
will do all my pleasure. I know you will. I pray you'd
be merciful to your people. I pray you'd be gracious. I know
that we do not demand mercy, but we can ask for it, and I
plead for it, that you would show mercy to the vessels of
mercy, and anyone here that's outside of Christ that you would
even call them to believe. And I ask this in Jesus' name.
Amen. Thank you for that, Pastor. That was awesome.