Alright, take your Bibles and
turn back with me to Romans chapter 9. Romans chapter 9. I've entitled this message Sovereign
Election and Reprobation. Sovereign Election and Sovereign
Reprobation. Now last Lord's Day we looked
at the three objections. The three objections of men to
the sovereignty of God. And the first objection was that
God was unfaithful. That God had promised to save
Israel. God swore in His Word to save
Israel. And yet Israel Paul's kinsmen, according to
the flesh, had rejected the Messiah. They had crucified the Lord of
glory. Therefore, the question was,
the objection was, is the Word of God of none effect? Is the
Word of God failed? Well, the answer is no. He says
in verse 6, Not as though the Word of God hath taken none effect. Why? Because not all that are
Israel are of the seed of Jacob. Not all those that are Israel
are of the seed of Jacob. So the simple answer is this,
that Israel is intended by God to be only a type and a picture
of the elect of God, the spiritual Israel of God. And therefore he says, neither
because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children,
and not because they were born of Abraham. Now this is exactly
what the Jews believed. The Jews believed this very plainly
they told Christ. We be Abraham's seed. What was
their hope? What was their standing was this.
We are the children of Abraham and are not in bondage. to any
man. They believed themselves to be
the children of God because they were Jews. But here, the truth according
to the Word of God is this. He says, But in Isaac shall thy
seed be cold. That is, now He's going to explain
what that means. That is, they which are the children
of the flesh are not the children of God, But the children of the
promise are counted for the seed. The children of the promise,
they are the children of God. The children according to the
promise, according to the sovereign will and decree of God, and not
according to the flesh. And He gives those two examples,
you know the next. He says, For this is the word
of promise, At this time will I come and
Sarah shall have a son. The first example obviously he
gives is that of Isaac. Isaac was a child of Abraham. But listen, so was Ishmael. Both were seeds of Abraham. Yet, Isaac was chosen and Ishmael
was cast out. Now the question is, why was
one of the seed of Abraham chosen and one cast out? Because they
were tithes. They were pictures. But you might have an objection
with Isaac and Ishmael because Ishmael had a different mother.
You can say, well, that's only because he's been rejected because
he had this Egyptian mother. Okay, well then he gives us another
example. The children of Isaac being twins
in the same womb. Now you can't have any objection.
These are the seed of Isaac, the promised son. And what does
he say about this? He says, But when Rebekah had
conceived, even by one our father Isaac, for the children being
not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the
purpose of God, according to election, might stand. Not of works, but of him that
calleth. It was said to her, the elder shall serve the younger,
as it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. And so the two sons of Jacob,
of Isaac, Jacob and Esau. God made choice. God made choice. between these
two sons before they had done good or evil. This, my friend,
is the doctrine of election. That God purposed and loved Jacob
and hated Esau. This is the election of grace.
That God loved Jacob, chose Jacob, saved Jacob, and hated Esau. Even before their birth. before
they were. Before they can merit anything,
Jacob did not merit this by his good works because he did not
do any. Listen, and in the same token,
the hatred of Esau, he had not done any evil. Yet God hated him. What do you do with that? What
can you do with that? Nothing. You can't do anything
with it. This is the truth. This is God
as He reveals it to us. "...before they had done any
good or evil. God loved one and hated the other.
Therefore the word of God is faithful to save Israel, which
are not the sons of Abraham, but rather the sons of sovereign
election." Now what's the purpose of us understanding this? Comfort. Comfort. You that are believers
in Christ, you are the elect of God. You are the Jacobs. You were chosen, not by any merits
of your own. You were loved of God before
the world began. You were given to Christ. Christ
obtained your salvation. The Spirit of God came to you
and called you to life and faith in Christ. Therefore, listen,
all the promises of God are yea and amen in Christ. They're yours. Is the Word of
God of none effect? No, the Word of God is very much
in effect. God promised to save Israel,
and listen, He will save Israel. He will save His people. That all He loved and gave to
Christ will be saved. Their merit, not their own, but
the work of Christ. As He represented Him, Even so,
they are called and none of the elect shall be lost. For we are
the sons of promise. And the second objection that
he deals with is, is what shall we say that? Is there unrighteousness
with God now? Listen, God loved Jacob and hated
Esau before they were born, having done anything to either merit
his hatred or merit his love. Now you're going to say this.
Is God unrighteous to do that? This is the objection of modern
religion. Well, that's not fair. God is not just. Matter of fact, they don't even
ask the question, they just demand it. They say, well, God's not
just God like that. I won't serve a God like that.
He's unjust. What does Paul say about this?
Is God unjust? What is his answer? God forbid. God forbid you say anything like
that. God is just. If God loves some and hated others
before they were born, is God unjust? God forbid, because salvation
is not based on merit, but according to mercy. For he saith to Moses. Now he's going to talk about
the elect. He's going to talk about how
they are saved. How are the elect saved? Now
God loved them before they did any good. But why? What's the purpose? How did God
do that? Listen. He did it according to
mercy. For he saith to Moses, I will
have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. The election of God is a divine
act of God's mercy. It's an act of mercy because
all men, Jacob and Esau, both were sinners. When they were
conceived, the moment they were conceived, they inherited the
sin nature of their father. The moment they were conceived.
The moment we were conceived, we all inherited the same nature.
None of us escape it. The only one that did not inherit
our nature that's man is Christ. Our sin nature. We were born
sinners. Therefore, if any are to be saved,
it must be by mercy. Mercy. Therefore, if salvation were
left up then to the will and works of man, then none would
be saved. None would be saved. We would
have been like the fallen angels. If God had left it up to us to
merit salvation, there would be no man saved. If He waited
for you to be willing, none of us would be saved. This goes against the Armenians
and free will works religion, because that's what they believe
is that man's will has some effectual power. And we know that's not so. We
know that Jesus Christ said, No man can come to me. Except the father, which has
sent me drawing, there's no hope for you to come to me. You'll
never come to me. except the father do something
for you except the father shall behold God then is a debtor to
none I want you understand that God does not owe us anything men are not they're not they
don't object to the fallen angels principle you say that God owes
a fallen angels nothing we say yeah I don't owe him anything
but when it comes to us they believe he kind of owes us something
Well, He made me, so therefore He must owe me something. No,
He owes you nothing. If He saves you, it is by strict
mercy. Sovereign mercy. That's the only
reason you're saved. He's a debtor to none. God does
not owe man anything but damnation. That's what He owes us. If you
want to give what we really deserve, that's what we all deserve. Every
one of us. And so if any are to be saved,
it must be rooted in sovereign election and sovereign grace.
Salvation must be by mercy. And God is free and just to either
give it or withhold it. Since God doesn't owe us anything
and it's His mercy, He is free to either give it or not. He is subject to no one. And so then the conclusion of
all salvation is this, so then. So then, verse 16. Here's the
conclusion. It is not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but God that showeth mercy. Why was
Jacob loved? Mercy. God willed to love Jacob and
willed to show him mercy. That's it. The only reason. Nothing
in Jacob. Nothing in you. Nothing in me. So then salvation is not by the
will of man nor by the works of man, not by the efforts of
man, but solely based on the sovereign mercy of God and all
who would ascribe salvation in any part to the will or works
of man makes the cross of none effect. Salvation is an act of
God upon the sinner. And has nothing to do with the
merits of the sinner. Nothing. And the moment we add
anything to that work, we defile it, and it's of no effect. So you think of false religion,
I don't care what you put on the door. There are only two
religions, remember that. Only two, don't be confused in
the weeds. works and grace. Only two. You're either completely, utterly
saved by works or you're completely and utterly saved by grace and
never the twain mix. Eventually Paul's gonna tell
us that, he's gonna say, look, it's either of grace or it's
of works. It cannot be of both. Paul said this to those Galatians,
he said, if you add circumcision, Christ shall profit you nothing. Listen, if you add the will of
man, Christ shall profit you nothing. If you add the works
or rituals, or baptism or anything, you add anything to Christ, Christ
shall profit you nothing. Why? Salvation is completely
the work of God's mercy. Therefore, we are at the mercy
of God. The mercy of God. So in salvation, all is of God's
will. All is of God's work. The father. His work is this. He chose us. He loved us. His work is this. He gave us
to Christ. And the work of Christ was to
do everything you couldn't do. He did everything you could not
do. He obeyed God. You couldn't. His blood actually satisfied
God. Your blood would never do. God
raised Him from the dead, set Him on the throne and made Him
your mediator. In 1 Corinthians it says, but
of God you are in Christ Jesus. Of God are you in Christ Jesus.
Who of God is made unto you. Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
redemption. He has made the whole package. God made Him to be your Savior. And He accomplished that work
and then the work of the Spirit is to call you, to quicken you
and to keep you. Why are you still here? Have you not been tempted to
go away? Why? I tell you, sometimes I feel. Oh,
I feel as though the Lord has left me. I feel. What is my feelings? I've done nothing. Nothing. Why? Because my My salvation is completely
all of mercy, grace, the will of God. And they say, by the
which will you are sanctified? You know why I'm sanctified?
By the will of God, by the blood and death of Christ. See, God,
he did that. He did that. But what of those
hated with God? Now, that deals with those who
are saved, the Jacobs. But what about the Esau's? Those
who are hated of God, well God deals with that in the next look
at verse 17. So the scripture saith unto Pharaoh. Now Pharaoh, he's just like Esau. It saith unto Pharaoh, Even for
this 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. He uses Pharaoh to prove God's
sovereignty, that God sovereignly set His hatred upon him, even before he had done evil,
just like Esau. In this case, God acts in divine
justice without mercy. whose word cannot be broken or
thwarted, declares to Pharaoh, I have raised thee up to show
not my mercy, but my power, that my name might be declared throughout
all the earth. Behold, the birth, the life,
and the death of Pharaoh were according to the will of God
for his destruction. Pharaoh had one purpose, to be
destroyed. that God might show his power
in this man. He raised him up. So he might
destroy. It was appointed of God for his
destruction so that he might display his power, his wrath
toward sin and his love toward Israel. And that what he did.
By killing Pharaoh, didn't he display his love for Israel? You know the fear. I mean, Pharaoh,
he's sitting there and and God tells Moses even before he does
it, he says, I'm going to harden his heart. He's not going to let you go.
Now, why did Pharaoh not let him go? Because God willed it. God determined that Pharaoh,
his heart should be hardened and listen, it was hard. It is here we must not seek to
bring God under the judgment of human wisdom, but rather submit
to what God has revealed in His Word. We are not required then
to understand or comprehend it, but simply to believe the Word
of God as it stands. Believe what God declares about
His character, His justice, and His grace. And
behold the greatness of the sovereignty of God on display. The sovereignty of God is the
grounds of God's dealings with all men. God deals sovereignly
with all men. He does so in this, He does with
them as He pleases. He does with them as He pleases. This is the grounds of God's
dealings with the elect and the reprobate. Of His own sovereign
pleasure, He receives or rejects whomsoever He will. Therefore,
the conclusion, therefore, look at the conclusion in verse 18.
Therefore, hath He mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom
He will, He hardeneth. He hardeneth. His mercy then is displayed upon
sinful men and by dealing by. By sending his only begotten
son to satisfy the justice for his elect, that's a display of
mercy, isn't it? God was willing that His elect
should have mercy. His mercy is displayed in Jesus
obtaining their righteousness. His mercy is displayed in the
death of His Son by making His offering for sin, the only offering
acceptable, by making Him a mediator, a high priest and a king. His
mercy is displayed in the experience of grace in our hearts in the
new nature by which we are made willing and able to believe. His mercy is displayed in the
calling of his elect. Behold the mercy of God upon
those chosen to have mercy. I know we like to dwell on this,
but there's an opposite side of this as well. The opposite
of this is just as true. His justice is displayed then
in the reprobate. Just as the glory of His grace
is displayed in the objects of election, so is the glory of
His justice displayed in the reprobation of man. Those whom He has mercy, He will
have mercy, but He hardens others. Look at Romans 11. I say then, hath God cast off
his people? God forbid. For I am also in Israel, out
of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. Hath God cast
away his people, which he foreknew, what the Scriptures saith of
Esaias? How he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying,
Lord, they have killed thy prophets and digged down thine altars,
and I am left alone. They seek my life. But what saith
the answer of God to him? I have reserved for myself seven
thousand men, have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.
Even so then, at this present time, there is a remnant according
to the election of grace. And if by grace it is no more
works, otherwise grace no more grace. But if it be of works,
then it is no more grace, otherwise work is no more work. What then? Israel hath not attained that
which it seeketh for. But the election hath obtained
it, and the rest were what? Blinded. Now the question is,
who's doing the blinding? Who's doing the blinding? The
same person giving sight is the same person doing the blinding.
God is. God is. According as it is written, God
hath given them a spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see
and ears that they should not hear unto this day. Who closes
the eyes and ears of men? Well, who opens them? God opens them. But my friends,
I'll tell you this, God in sovereignty closes them. Whom he'll have
mercy, he'll have mercy. And whom he will, he hardeneth. This is a vital point. I want
you to understand this, that even though God does the hardening,
God in no way communicates sin to men. God in no act upon men communicates
sin as He does in grace. Why? He doesn't have to. He doesn't
have to. You're born with that. He doesn't
have to communicate sin to you. That sin is already there when
you're conceived. And so then the hardness of men's
hearts only occurs as God removes it or restrains their own evil
heart. That is, God regulates the hardness
of the heart. God regulates the hardness of
the heart and their ability to do what's in them already. Okay,
example, the cross. The cross. Was the cross of Christ
ordained of God? The crucifixion of Christ. Was
it ordained of God? Well, of course, we know we read
this in Acts. He says that by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge
of God, we know that the death of Christ was purposed of God. It was ordained of God. But it
was not going to happen in a vacuum. Wicked men must have crucified
Him. They must do the evil work of
crucifying Him. Who ordained that? Who ordained
the sin of these men? God did. Matter of fact, how
many times in Scripture does it say this? His hour has not
yet come. They wanted to kill Him so many times before this.
And yet what? They were not allowed to do what
they wanted to do. God restrained them from doing
what was in their heart. Kill him. Now on the Passover they said
this. We can't kill him on the Passover. That would be too much
of an uproar. We can't kill him on the Passover.
God says I beg your pardon. You will kill him on the Passover.
And they did. They killed him exactly when
God determined that they should. They desired to kill Christ and their heart was either restrained
or allowed to by the determinate counsel of God to do whatsoever
He had purpose to do. Isn't this the scripture in Psalm
76? It says, When God arose to judgment to save all the meek
of the earth. That's the crucifixion of Christ,
isn't it? He rose to judgment. He killed the Messiah instead
of His elect to show His divine mercy. It says this, Surely the wrath
of man shall praise thee, and the remainder of wrath that thou
shalt restrain. So who restrains men? or determines their sin. Who's sovereignly over the sins
and the affairs of all men? It's God. You know, see, God
is sovereignly either to harden or restrain. If any wicked men
show you any favor, where's that come from? God determined it. If any men seek to kill you and
destroy you, who determined that? God did. Do you see how sovereign God
is? There is nothing outside of His
divine decree. Nothing is outside the divine
decree of God. Nothing. I think I hit the wrong button. There we go. Therefore, behold, the comfort
given to the vessels of mercy is that God regulates all things,
controls all men. None of this stuff that's going
on right now is outside of his decree. Friends. These people
are doing exactly what God before determined to be done. Didn't
this give you some comfort? I mean, do you ever think men
would be this? I mean, Ignorant? I mean, there's no other way to
say it. They're crazy. They're mad. And they think themselves
to be intelligent. You just look at it and kind
of mock. It's just absurd. Who's doing
this? God's doing this. God's doing
this. And so all the hearts of men,
both the objects of his mercy and the objects of his justice,
are under his sovereign decree. To what end? Why does God do
it this way? I'm gonna give you the answer,
and it's not satisfying to the flesh, but it is the answer.
For his own glory. That's what he's doing. God is
going to magnify His glory of His mercy in the objects of His
elect, and He's going to magnify His wrath and justice in the
objects of the reprobates. God is doing all things for Himself.
And then with the scripture, The Lord hath made all things
for Himself, yea, even the wicked in the day of evil. And all He does in the providence
of time is for His glory. But in doing so, it is also for
our good. Everything God does is for your
good. Everything God does is for your good. They rush into this building
and they take us all out and they kill us. It's for your good. We go out tonight and our children
die. It's for our good. Everything God does is for your
good. God is going to save his people and everything he does
is toward that end. It's toward that end. So all he does in Providence
is for your good and salvation. Another illustration of that
is Joseph in Egypt, right? What a picture that is, Joseph
in Egypt. Remember, God gave that promise
through a vision to Joseph, had all those sheaves bowing down
to him. Why did God give that dream to him? I'll tell you why,
to stir up the hatred of his brethren. His brethren hated
Him long before they sold Him. Why did they sell Him? When they
had opportunity to sell Him, why did they sell Him? They sold
Him because that's what God determined them to do. Now did they know
it? Nope. Did they do what they wanted
to do? Yep. Were they guilty of doing
it? Yes. Those who killed Christ
are guilty of killing Christ and they're in hell right now.
Though God determined that they do it. God did not just allow these
men to do that evil act, He decreed it. Why? For the salvation of
Jacob. He decreed To use their sin of
these brothers, the sin of Potiphar and his wife, and even Pharaoh,
for the salvation of his people. This hatred of Joseph was in
their hearts long before they did it, and at the appointed
time God decreed them to do it, they sold him. Remember what
Joseph said to them at the end. He said, you meant it for evil.
Now why does men do evil? Because that's in their heart. It's in their heart. Now, if they do it or not, guess
what? Who's in control of that? God
is. God either restrains it. Our purpose is that they do it.
Remember, he said you meant it for evil, but God meant it for
good. God meant it for good. And so then we see this in the
salvation of the elect and the reprobation of those hated of
God are according to the sovereign will of God. And then this last
objection, look at this. Thou wilt say unto me, why did
he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? This is the third objection of
the accusers of God being a cruel monster. They say, well, If God
determined them to be reprobate, if God determined them and ordained
all their sin, and nobody can resist the will of God, then
how can God blame them? That's the objection, isn't it? Objection. If God's willing that
these men should sin and His power is all-powerful, Then how
can they be accused of sin? Judas. Let's use Judas as an
example. Judas is the son of damnation. The son of perdition. He was
determined to betray Christ before he was born. In fact, it was
prophesied that he should do it. Let me ask you this. Was
there any chance he wouldn't do it? No, God determined him
to do it. God purposed him. God gave him
life and breath and put him right next to Christ so that he should
do this evil thing. Well, if God ordained it, then
how can Judas be accountable? How can he be responsible? The
same is said of the crucifixion. Again, if God determined them
to crucify Christ, how can they be held accountable? The objection is, how then are
they to bear the guilt seeing God ordained it? Paul then gives
three answers. I'm only going to deal with one
right now. I'm only going to deal with one. I'll give you
the other two answers in the next couple of verses. I'm going
to deal with this first objection. The first answer to this is,
who are you? Who are you? No, but O man, who
art thou that replies against God? I believe he's using this
in Isaiah chapter 45 and verse 9. This is the same line of answer. Woe unto him that striveth with
his maker. Let the potsherds strive with
the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say unto him that
fashioned it, why is that? Why makest thou? What makest
thou or thy work? He hath no hands. You see, it's
the same thing he's quoting here. Who are you to reply against?
Shall the thing form say unto him that form it, why hast thou
made me thus? Behold then the pride and presumption
of man in this objection. To look into the deep things
of God and find fault with His plan and His providence. It is here that every believer
should just simply bow before his maker. God sovereignly chose His people
and the ones that will reprobate is according to the sovereign
will of God. Everything that is done in time
and providence is according to the sovereign decree of God. Can you reconcile this? God is
absolutely, completely sovereign over all things and yet man is
fully responsible. Can you? You put those things
together? You can't. So it's at this point
we must stop with human reason and simply bow before God. Simply bow before God. We should bow before our maker
and not strive, but rather hear what he says and without question
acknowledge its right and just. Can there be any greater display
of pride than for the creature to presume to have greater wisdom
than God in this? To think His judgment is more
righteous than the judgment of God. Shall the thing form say unto
him, Why hast thou made me thus? Let God's people then be satisfied
with the answer of Scripture that God has willed both the
salvation of the elect and the destruction of the wicked. Be
satisfied that God determines to do with men whatsoever He
pleases. Should not this satisfy us? That
God is God and we're not? That God has made us and we are
subject to Him and He is not subject to us? Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy and for thy truth's
sake. For mercy and justice. Not unto us, there's no glory
here, but unto yourself give glory, both for your mercy and
your justice. Wherefore, then should the heathen
say, Where is thy God? But our God is in the heavens,
and hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. So then let us, as Paul
does here, cease to try to use mere human reason and bow before
God whose ways are, listen, past finding out. Don't you know there
are things past finding out about God that you don't know? This
is one of them. This is one of them. Let us not invent doctrines in
order to excuse God. I'm not going to try to excuse
God in this. Paul doesn't. In fact, he just says, who are
you to reply against God? That's his answer. Why, because human logic and
reason have just gone out the window, there's no way you can
reconcile these two things, no way you can bring it together.
Why? Because there are certain things about God that just pass
finding out. So let's not invent doctrine
to excuse it, excuse God. God determines to do with mankind
as He pleases. Whatsoever He pleases, and sinful
men will always rise up against the divine right. They will seek
to condemn His justice, but let us who are objects of grace not
rise up. Let us behold and wonder at the
incomprehensible sovereignty of our God. both in salvation and in reprobation. And this is why Paul says, O
the depths of the riches and the knowledge of God, how unsearchable
are His judgments. Are His judgments unsearchable?
You got it. You understand it. To me they're
unsearchable. I can't put my I'm kind of treading
water here, because I really can't find a bottom to this.
And if you feel that way, good, you're getting it. Because His
ways of judgment are unsearchable. I can't tell you how it is that
God ordains a man to sin, and yet God has no guilt in it whatsoever,
and the man is guilty. He is. Yet God ordained it. That's unsearchable to me. So
what do you do with it? You bow. Amen, who are you? Do not put God under the microscope
of your judgment and reason. That's what Paul's saying. Surely his judgment would not
be past finding out if we could always perceive what it is to be just. That's the first answer of that
objection. I know I've got two more, but I'm not going to make
it tonight. I'm not going to try. Again, and just at this point,
we just have to wait out in there. And ask God to be gracious to
cause us to bow down and find comfort in this. God does with
men whatsoever he pleases. God saves a man is because God
determined to do it. And if God reprobates a man is
because he determined to do it. Don't give me this, that God
determined to save the elect, but the reprobate, he didn't
really determine to do anything with him, you know? No. Everything is determined
by God. Even the sin of man. And yet God is not guilty. of
sin. Man is. And man will be held
accountable before God. So Judas cannot sit there and
say, well, you determined that I do it. It's your fault. Nope. Judas is in hell right now because
of his sin. Even though God determined it. Again, what are we going
to do? Just swim out there and say,
yes. Yes, Lord. That's so. Why? How can I say it? It's right
there. Paul didn't try to make an excuse
for God. He just turned around and says,
who are you to try to put God under your reasoning? Don't do
it. May God help us just simply bow
before the sovereignty of God and be thankful. You that are
vessels of mercy, The fact that we are not reprobate,
what a great point of thanksgiving and praise
to God. Because there was no difference
between us and the reprobate, is there? No difference. Who
maketh thee to differ from another? What hast thou thus not received?
See, the doctrine of election is meant to humble man, not to
give you any pride. Doesn't this abase you? But it exalts God. I pray God will be merciful to
help us. Sovereignty of God.