All right, let's go back to Romans
chapter 9, the book of Romans chapter 9. I so very much want
this message to be plain. I want it to be plain. I want to clearly define what
I'm saying, what is being said here. Now, several times the apostle
says this. Look at chapter 8. Look there
first. Verses 28 through 31, he talks
about the purpose of God. Verse 29, whom he foreknew, foreknow,
he predestinated. Verse 30, whom he predestinated,
then he called, whom he called he justified, whom he justified
glorified. And verse 31, he says, what shall
we then say to this thing? What do we say? What do you say
to this? What's your response to this? That's what he said.
He says that several times. Look at chapter 9, verses 8 through
14. He's talking again about God's
purpose. Verse 11, the purpose of God
according to election. That's what these verses are
about. The purpose of God according to election. God's purpose. And in verse 14, he says, what
shall we say then? What do you say then? It's very
plain, very clear what he's saying there. And down in verse 30, he says
it again, what shall we say then? What do you say then? Verse 19, some people argue,
he said, you will surely say, thou wilt say unto me, and use
this argument. So he keeps saying, what do we
say to these things? What do we say to these things?
What do you say to these things? And as I began, as I said a moment
ago, the problem when you read this is not understanding it.
I believe one of the youngest of children in here can understand
what we just read. Right? That's not the problem. The problem is man doesn't like
what's being said. But if you do, if upon hearing
these things, and you believe what it says,
and more than that, you love what it says, because God said
it, because it's concerning who God is, his right to be God. And you say from the heart, I
believe this, I love this, I don't know why anybody would. If you
could say that, my, my. You're a blessed person. Flesh
and blood didn't reveal it to you, flesh you didn't just decide
to, because I'd bet you to say that most in here who were religious
before you heard the truth, and nearly everybody was. When you heard this, Romans 9,
you said, I don't like that. I don't believe that. I had asked many people in here,
and they would confess to saying that. I don't believe that. You
mean you don't believe God's Word? Well, it says that, but
I don't think it means that. All right. What shall we say
then? Maybe that should be the title
of this. What shall we say then? Now this whole book, not Romans,
but the whole Bible, the whole Bible is about salvation. I told myself I was going to
quit hitting the pulpit. That's where we get to turn Bible-thumping
preachers. Honestly, I grieve over my preaching. I get too excited. I yell. I
hit the pulpit. I don't want to do that. He says,
I'm going to preach this message in a calm manner. Just forgive
me, I'm a man, alright? This whole Bible is about salvation. That's what this book is about.
Salvation. What does salvation mean? What
does the word salvation mean? If you just look at Webster's
Dictionary. If you just look at Webster's
dictionary, look up the word salvation, it means to be saved
from destruction. It means to be preserved from
destruction. This whole book is about salvation.
So in other words, brethren, somebody needs to be saved from
destruction. Who does? Everybody does. Everybody does. Destruction is
soul death. That's what the Bible calls it.
Be cut off. Hell, that's what it's all about. This Bible, that's old-fashioned,
and you won't hear that very much today, but the theme of
this book is salvation. And what it says is man is a
sinner. Sin is the issue between God
and man. He says that. Your sins have
separated you. Sin is the issue why God kicked
man out of the garden. He could have no more fellowship
with sin. God is first and foremost holy
and just. Not love. Holy and just. These are the chief attributes
of God Almighty. God is first and foremost holy
and just. God must and will punish sin. God, who is first and foremost
holy and just, is going to destroy this whole planet and all of
the inhabitants of it. Now, is that what this book says? And you don't hear that anymore,
do you? Because the modern generation thinks that's just a bunch of
hogwash. That's what this book's in. Jesus
Christ talked about it more than anybody. It's not the love of God that's
going to destroy persons. It's the holiness of God who
hates sin. It's the justice of God who must
punish sin. He must punish sin. God is just. He must. He said, I will by no
means clear the guilty. But God, but this same God is
merciful. This same God is love. Yes, he
is. He loves some, not all. We read it. He mentioned somebody by name
that he hated. He saw. And if you'll honestly
look at the Bible, Psalm 55, 7-11, 11-7, on and on it goes. Proverbs 6, it talks about persons
whom he hates. You'll hear preachers all the
time say this, well God loves the sinner, but he hates his
sin. It doesn't say that in the scripture
anyway. It doesn't say that. God is merciful. God is love. God does love. God is love. So he must love some. That's
his character. He loved. He loved his son before
there was anybody. He is loved. God is merciful. God Almighty
purposed to save some of these inhabitants of planet Earth from
this certain destruction. God Almighty purposed to save
some of Earth's inhabitants from this certain destruction. to
save them, to spare them. His name, he revealed
his name Jehovah to certain people, Jehovah, which means God our
Savior. He was first called just by the
name Elohim, the ever-existent one, Elohim, Elohim, and then
finally he revealed himself, my name is Jehovah. God our Savior. Now, he's not the Savior of all
persons. He's going to destroy some people,
right? Jesus, the name Jesus, means
what? Savior. Call his name Jesus,
for he shall save who? Every human being. Doesn't say that, The angel said,
Call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sin. Jesus, Jehovah, Savior. It's
all about salvation. What I'm trying to say is, this
book, from cover to cover, is all about the salvation of God. Or some. Not all. Now look at verse 15. Here is
our text. Here is the central verse of
Romans 9. He builds up to this and then
builds upon it. Verse 15, you have your Bible,
Romans 9, verse 15. He said to Moses, that's in Exodus
33, I will have mercy. God says, I will have mercy on
whom I will have mercy. And I will have compassion on
whom I will have compassion. I will have mercy. Verse 16.
So he says then, very plainly, even a child can understand that.
It is not of him that willeth. That is the will of man. Man
doesn't say, I will let God. I will, I will, I will. No, he
says it is not of him that willeth. Romans 9.16. Doesn't say that.
Young people, can you read that? It is not of him that willeth,
or of him that runneth. Well, here's what I'll do. I'll
work harder than anybody else, and then I'll earn, and then
God has to. No, sir. It is not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but, you reading it? Verse 16. Of
God that showeth mercy. If anybody gets mercy, if anybody
is saved, it's of God. God's will. God's power. God's
work. God's purpose. It's of God. Salvation. Jonah 2.9 says, salvation is
of the Lord. It's called all through the Psalms,
the salvation of God. It's His. He purposed it. He chooses who He's going to
save. He applies the blood to whom
He applies it. It's of God. That's what it said. All right, now let's stay with
me. All right, mercy. The word mercy. What does mercy
mean? I just told you salvation is
to be spared or preserved from destruction. Mercy is to not
destroy somebody. Mercy. Mercy, someone said this,
a very good definition of mercy. Mercy is not getting what we
deserve. Mercy is not getting what we
deserve. Say I kill somebody, the strict
law, justice, absolute justice says, kill a man, you die. God's law, the original law,
the absolute justice is eye for an eye. Pluck out an eye, maliciously,
we pluck yours out. Tooth for tooth. Life for life. That's God's strict justice. It works, to a degree. That's strict justice, which
is a symbol of God's absolute justice, right? The soul that
sinneth it shall surely die. Got that? Justice. God is just. If he quit being
that, he wouldn't be God. Mercy is not getting what we
deserve. Mercy is not getting what we
deserve. Mercy is being spared that justice. Mercy is being not punished. Mercy, by definition,
is only for guilty people. Let's say I didn't kill anybody. The law has no claim on me. Right? Let's say I didn't break the
law. All of a sudden, it didn't break any law. I was riding down
the road, and all of you, I was riding down the road the other
day, I was doing the speed limit, and a blue light came on behind
me. Now, what's your first reaction? Huh, your heart stopped. Oh,
no. What was I doing? I wasn't doing anything. Once
he pulled me, I hate the law. He went on by me. Whew, man.
Well, I wouldn't break it. Why was I guilty? Why did I feel
guilty? Because I was just a few miles
down the road. And I wanted to be going faster
than I was. I was guilty whether I was doing
it or not. Sam, I know you, I've seen you
drive. You're guilty and you're sitting
still. You understand. He wants to be
speaking. He and his big brother. Anyway, sorry, fellas, but it's
true. We're guilty. We're guilty. Even if we're not working it,
we're wanting to. God looks on the heart. Where am I? Let's say, well, mercy is for
the guilty. Mercy is for the guilty. It's
only for the guilty. Say the fellow pulled me over
and said, you're speeding. I said, I was not. Yes, you were. I was not. I was doing speed. He said, well, I'm going to let
you off. That's not mercy. I wasn't doing
anything. Now my daughter, I'll not tell
the whole story, don't worry, was flying one time, and they
pulled her over and gave her an enormous speeding ticket.
It hadn't happened since, and it won't happen again, will it?
Honey. But they had mercy on her. They greatly reduced the penalty.
I mean greatly reduced the penalty. Strict justice wasn't served.
They showed a little mercy. Mercy is for the guilty. That's
what I'm trying to say. Mercy is for the guilty. Now, if it's mercy, here's somebody
guilty. The law says you must get this. That's what the law says. Yet,
somebody decides to show mercy. It's always sovereign. If it's mercy, it's always sovereign. Here's a judge sitting on a bench.
Everybody before him is guilty, okay? He decides to show mercy. Who gets it? Whoever he decides to show mercy
to. That's easy to say. It's always sovereign. It's always
up to the one who's going to show mercy. God says, I will
show mercy. Now, men and women argue against
sovereign mercy. We're guilty. If God Almighty,
if God Almighty decided to save one human being, just one, That
person in heaven someday will be hollering, screaming, singing
to the top of their lungs, thank God for his mercy. That I didn't get what the rest
of the race got. But God, who is rich in mercy,
decided to save me. And he did it. Thank God. that He chose me. One person. This is what the world fails
to see, that it's mercy. If God saves anybody, it's mercy. It's not merit. People think God ought to love
man. No. He says, Turn with me to
Psalm 14, Psalm 14, Psalm 14, okay? Now, Paul the Apostle,
throughout the book of Romans, this is the book you need to
read if in doubt about who God is, what man is, who Christ is,
why he came, what he did, who he did it for. This is the book
you need to read, Romans. Throughout the book of Romans,
Paul quotes the Old Testament. Psalm 14, Paul quotes this in
Romans 3. In Psalm 14, this is what God
Almighty says about the human race, all right? This is what
God's Word says about the human race. Verse 2, the Lord looked
down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any
that did understand and seek God. He said, they are all gone
aside, they are all together. That is, every one of them, together,
put them all together, they become filthy. The word is stinking.
Paul uses the word unprofitable, worthless. Paul uses it in Romans
3. There is none that doeth good,
no, not one. That's what God says about mankind,
right? In other words, there's not one
of them worth saving. But God, who's rich in mercy, God, in order to show His mercy,
to show His merciful character, and His love, sovereign love,
None of them deserved love. They say that about a wild, rebellious
boy. They said it about me. He has
a face that only a mother could love. I remember them saying
about me, I remember a fellow saying, he'll be in prison before
he's sixteen, but for the grace of God it would happen. So all
of us would have, if left to ourselves. Nobody deserves this love of
God. This is where the world goes wrong. They think it's merit. They think everyone deserves
a chance to be saved. That's not so. If someone deserves a chance,
it's not mercy. Does a murderer and a rapist
on death row deserve a chance to be saved? No. But some are spared. It's mercy. Now, he said, look
at our text, in verse 15, he said to Moses, leaving no doubt,
he said in the Old Testament and New Testament, I will have
mercy on whom I will have mercy. Mercy is God's absolute prerogative,
God's discretion, God's will, God's choice. Remember? Mercy is for the guilty, and
if guilty, No one deserves it. If anyone gets it, it's according,
it's a sovereign prerogative of the one who shows it. Right? Mercies for the guilty. The problem here, now the problem
is, most people don't think God is that holy. Most people don't
think God is that holy. Most people don't think God is
that just. All the conception they have
of God is what they hear from preachers today. God loves you.
God loves you. That's all you hear out of the
mouth of preachers. God loves you. God loves you. God loves
you. God wants to. God wants to. God's waiting. He's just a big old sugar daddy,
hoping, waiting, wishing, wanting, just waiting, just hoping somebody,
all he wants to do is save people. That's all he's got to do is
save people. That is not the God of this book.
That is just not the God of this book. But that's the conception
that most people have of God, and they don't thank God. And
then when they hear somebody talk about the God of the Bible
as He is, holy, just, will by no means clear the guilty, going
to destroy the world and so forth, they say, that's not my God. And most people don't think God
is that holy and that just or that strict, nor do they think,
most people don't think that man is that bad. Most people don't think, like
we read in Psalm 14 or Romans 3, most people don't think that
man is that bad. They don't think man deserves
punishment. All right, now turn with me to
Ephesians 2, and I've got to hurry, all right? I'm about to
lose you. I told you I'm trying to make it as clear as possible.
I'm teaching it from God's Word. Ephesians 2. Ephesians 2. How bad is man? We read it, but
we don't know the half of it. God seeeth not as man seeeth,
the Scripture says. It's going to be hard for me
not to get excited here. Do you know something of your
own corrupt heart? Some of you do. You've had it
rise up, your thoughts. Have you ever thought about just
bashing somebody's brains out? I mean, has there ever been a
time you wanted to just literally put an end to their life? Have
you? Sure you have. God says whoever thinks it has
done it. And on and on it goes with every
law we've all broken. We've thought about it. It's
only God's restraining grace, Brother Ron, that we don't carry
it out, isn't it? Only the circumstances didn't
arrive that we weren't allowed to carry it out. One time my nephew was here,
and he had a run-in with a neighbor of mine, a man in his fifties,
and the man was threatening him. And now this happened at a time,
and it all ended. Well, I came along a little while
after it happened. This thing happened in our neighborhood,
and I came along a little after it, and had, well, Kelly Pendry
was with me, and his son was involved. The man threatened
his son. Can you imagine what would have
happened had we driven up at that precise moment? It had been a bad thing. It had
been a bad thing, but for the grace of God. But we didn't.
God hindered that. God circumstantially prohibited
that from happening. I came along after the fact,
much after the fact. He told me about it. My nephew
told me about it. And Justin told me about it.
And I still wanted to go up and take a call to my neighbor. You
know what I'm talking about. Don't anybody sit there and think
you haven't, huh? If he'd have done that to me,
I hope I would have said, you know, I'm sorry. I had done that
before. Sorry, I didn't mean to. But
now my sister's boy. You do something to my daughter?
Hmm. Right, Steven? David one time, they cussed David,
didn't they? Shimei, a fellow named Shimei,
cussed David. And his best friend said, I'm
going to take his head off. That's a good friend. But David said, no, leave him
alone. The Lord told him to cuss me. The Lord sent him to cuss
me. What I'm getting at is, it's
within every one of us. Is it not? Hell is in our hearts. Every one of us. We're capable
of doing anything. But for the grace of God, every woman in
here would be walking the streets of Roanoke right now. Every man
in here. Right? If you're honest with
yourself. We're all gifted for God. God
seeth not as man seeth. God looks on the heart. God knoweth
the very thoughts and intents of the heart. That's how he judged
it. Right? It's a perfect judgment. It's
not unfair. It's a perfect judgment. All right. Here's Ephesians 2
and verse 1. He says, And you hath he quickened
who were dead and trespassed in sins? You who were dead and trespassed
in sin, he said, in time past you walked according to the course
of this world, just like everybody else. Prince of the power of
the air, that's who you serve. Spirit that now works in the
children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation
in time past. Lust of the flesh, fulfilling
the desire of the flesh and of the mind. We're by nature children
of wrath, that is, just ready to kill anybody that crosses
our path, not interested in God, none of this. Was that you, Dan
Ogle? Was that you, Sam? Was that you,
Mindy? Was that you, Deborah? Was that
you, Barbara? Was that you? Didn't give a thought
for God. Could care less about God. Verse 4. But who? Does it say? But you!
But you! Does it say? But you had a change
of mind. But you decided. But... You can't preach this without
getting excited, people. You try it. But you. But you
let go and let God. But you. Decided to let Jesus
into your life. But you had a change of mind.
But you repent. But you, he doesn't sleep with
you. He says, but God. Now, now. Who's getting the glory in this
salvation? This is the difference. This
is what this Bible is about. You can sum up this Bible salvation
in two words. But God. Mankind, hating God,
not thinking about God, the God who feeds us, who clothes us,
who does all that He does for us all our lives. Give, give,
give, give, give. We don't even give Him a thought. There's a lot of weird things.
What am I one day to set aside to give Him thanks? Some of us
went for years that way, 20, 30, 40, 50 years without giving
the God who sustains us one moment's thought. How ungrateful, how unworthy
can you be, huh? What if you fed a dog for 50
years and all it did was turn and want to bite you and growl
at you and complain about the food you gave it? That was us. And you. But God, who is rich in mercy,
it says. Rich in mercy. Mercyful. Rich in mercy. For the great
love wherewith he loved us. Who's us? His people. Jacob have I loved. You sons
of Jacob are not considered. He saw the hated. He's a hateful
fellow. He's worth hating. I don't love
him. Jacob, same as he is, but I decided to love him. But God,
even when we were dead in sins like that, ungrateful, unworthy,
quickened us together with Christ. What was it that made you alive? What was it that all of a sudden
opened your eyes to see this message I'm preaching right now,
this very word of truth, that God, whose holy The true God. This is eternal life, that you
might know Thee, the only true God. Not just love, but first
and foremost, holy and just, and by no means tend to gift,
and will punish sin, and will destroy a world full of people.
But this God, who is merciful, decided sovereignly,
remember, mercy is for the guilty, mercy is always sovereign. He
decided to show mercy on you. Who believed? Who? Who? Preacher,
who? I don't know, but God knows.
Whosoever will. Well, you see there, that's the
will of man. No, no, no. Psalm 110 verse 3 says, it says
that God shall make his people willing. in the day of His power,
in this quickening power, when God Almighty chooses someone
to reveal Himself to them as He is, to reveal to them their
utter guilt before Him and unworthiness, and God Almighty reveals, I've
decided to be merciful to you. I have loved thee, Jeremiah 31.3,
with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness,
I've drawn thee. I'm not going to let you go to
hell. Nobody whom God loves goes to hell. What kind of love is
that? Oh no, he says, I've loved thee
with an everlasting love, revealed myself to you, revealed the gospel
to you, sent my son to die for you, therefore with loving kindness
I've drawn you, taken you together with Christ. Oh, it's by grace,
read on, it's by grace you're saved. Now, mercy is not getting
what we deserve. Mercy is always sovereign. He
said, I will show mercy on whom I will. Not of him that willeth,
but it's of God that showeth mercy. He said, I will be gracious
to whom I will be gracious. Grace is getting what you don't
deserve. Mercy is not getting what you
do deserve. Destruction, perfect justice,
condemnation, be cast out. God said, no, I'm not going to
destroy this person. Grace is getting what you don't
deserve. Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. Jesus. Call his name Jesus. He shall
save his people from their sins. How? Why? Why did Jesus Christ come down
here? To make man savable? to make it so man had a chance
to be saved? That's a lie. It's a lie. Jesus Christ, his name means
Savior, before the world began. This is Scripture, verse 4 of
chapter 1, according as he had chosen us in Christ before the
foundation of the world. Christ before the world began.
Christ and the Father entered into an agreement. God Almighty
chose individuals to save, people. Now remember, it's mercy, none
of them deserve it. But he chose, and remember I
said if one person was saved, it'd be, they don't deserve it.
But God is rich in mercy, the scripture says, chose the people
as the members of the stars of the sky and the sands of the
sea. I really believe more people
will be saved than are lost, damned someday. I really believe
that. Think of all the children who have died in birth and infancy. Well, God Almighty, rich in mercy,
set his love upon not everybody, but many. Remember, they don't
deserve it, but many. But God's just. God is holy.
They're going to sin. Every one of them are going to
be sinners. God's law says, I must punish sin. The soul that sins,
they're rotten sin. They don't deserve to be saved.
God has to be just to be God. Christ said, I'll take their
place. I'll be a man. a human being. I'll be a man, and I'll glorify
you as a man. I'll, from the minute I'm born
to the day I die, I'll glorify God. I'll always think about
God. All I'll do is thank you for everything you've done. I'll
live for you. I'll serve for you. Not an idle
word will come out of my mouth. Not a sinful thought will enter
my brain. I'll live as a perfect man. I'll be righteous, holy
before God Almighty. And it says this all through
this book. God is well pleased for His righteousness
sake. The Lord our righteousness. Surely
shall one say, Isaiah 45, surely shall one say unto the Lord,
have I righteousness? Jesus Christ came to this earth,
lived a perfect life, perfect life, as a man. God looked down
and said, that's the way man is supposed to live. None have,
but he has. I love him, I accept him, I'm
real pleased. God said that twice, didn't he,
from heaven. I'm real pleased with him. That man, by virtue
of his perfect life, could walk right into heaven, and the gates
of heaven have to swing wide open. That's what Psalm 2, it
says. Open, here it comes. Somebody's
coming into heaven, walking right in. Not allowed to come in, he
earned it. Swinging wide open. Who is it?
Jesus Christ, walking in. But he didn't do all of that
to show us how to do it, because we can't do it. We're flesh. We're sinful flesh. Why did he
do it? Now here's the mystery, and I
can't make this plain, but somehow he traded places with those elect
people of God. Somehow. According to the will
and mind of God Almighty, God says, if you'll do that, live
a perfect life, I will transfer everything you've done, everything
you've earned, heaven, righteousness. I'll transfer that to these people. I love them, I've chosen them,
but I can't just forgive them. I've got to punish their sin. But I'm determined to save them. I won't show mercy, but they've
got to have holiness, righteousness. I've got to accept them. Transfer. Now, their sins have got to be
punished. You've got to take their sin. You've got to take
their punishment. You've got to take their death,
the soul that's sinning. And Christ did that. Substitution. The very heart of the gospel.
Substitution. Now, man, if Christ did that
for his people And God Almighty poured out his
wrath on Christ. Justice was served on Christ,
right? Whoever Christ did that for,
their sins are paid for, right? Huh? What if God said, here a person
comes into heaven, the preacher told me Jesus died for God said, but you didn't live
good enough. I'm going to send you to hell. Where's the justice in that?
That's unjust. Jesus Christ paid for all his
sin. So Christ didn't die for everybody. He didn't die for everybody.
He said in John 10, I lay down my life for my sheep. my people. He shall save his people." And
he did that, it's a big term, vicariously, substitutionarily.
Christ, whatever he did, he did for his people. And whatever
he did for his people is eternal. And whoever he did it for, the
Holy Spirit in time comes down and makes it known, gives them
a new heart, love them, love him, love the gospel, believe
it, and it's forever. They'll never lose that. What
God does is forever. Go back to the text, and I'm
quit. I promise. I'm going to quit. Romans 9,
it's all about God's sovereign election of some to receive mercy
and grace and salvation. Now remember, nobody deserved
it. Now look at verse 11. It says, The children being not
yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God, according to election, might stand. It's not of works.
It's not us earning our way to heaven, but it's of him that
calleth. Remember Romans 8? Whom he foreknew,
he predestinated, and he predestinated, he called, and he called, he
justified, and on and on. Sovereign election is what this
is. Sovereign love. Verse 14, so
he said, and he said, verse 13, Jacob have I loved, but Esau
have I hated. What shall we say? What do we say? What do you say
to all that's been said this morning? The world doesn't like
him. And you read that verse in John
8, verse 47 in the bulletin. He is of God, heareth God's word.
Whoever's of God, whoever really is interested in God's glory,
God's honor, God's word, believes it. I don't understand, Preacher,
how a human being can be responsible and how a human being can believe
and so forth, and yet God predetermines. I don't either. He's God. You can't understand God. That's
the way it is. Or some say, well, I don't like
that. Then he wouldn't do it for you. That's all he does it
for. They like it. They love it. They
love the truth, Paul said. Down in verse 19, some say, well,
why does he find fault? If God's will will be done, if
I'm going to do exactly what God's will for me to do, then
how can he find fault with me? How can I be accountable for
my own actions? If everything God has purposed
and willed will happen. Known unto God, Acts 15, 18,
are all his works from the beginning. If God's will will be done and
God is determined, why does he find fault with anybody? Everybody's
doing his will. That's what that person argued
right there, didn't it? How did Paul answer that? How
did he answer it? He didn't. He just said, verse 20, O man,
who art thou that replies against God? How dare you, he says, argue
with God. Shall the thing form, say to
him that formed it, why have you done that? Hath not the potter
towered over the clay? To make of one lump," he goes
on to illustrate this, to take one lump of clay and make one, fashion one, into
a vessel of honor. Here's a rosebud put roses in,
put it on his table and enjoy it for his own enjoyment. To make another one, a chamber
pot. I'm the potter, here's my clay,
my clay. I'm the former, this is the thing
to be formed. Cannot I do with my own, Dan,
cannot I do with my own what I will? This is the argument, I think,
just from Jeremiah 18. Jeremiah 18. And all he does is say, how
dare you speak against God Almighty. This is what God says, and that's
the way it is. Because he's God. Do you ever
tell your children this? My dad used to say it all the
time. I'd say people don't say it much anymore. When they ask you a reason for
why you do something, You say, because I said so. Do you still do that, Brother
Stephen? I'm sure you do. That's what my dad always said.
But, but, but, but, I don't have to give you an answer. I'm your dad. How dare you reply
against me? How much more God? Huh? What if God? And he did. That's what he did. And men all
over the world said, not fair, not fair, not fair. And God someday
will say, I walked through my yard and
a bunch of ants are living on my property, and they've never
asked my permission. They're destroying my property. Do you remember that story of
that lunch my wife gave me one time? I worked on the railroad
and my wife fixed me a plate lunch, my favorite food. And oh, I was envious. Steve, I was envious. Every man
on the railroad, I brought a hot plate and I put it in the microwave.
They were eating bologna. I was eating roast beef. Leftover,
but it was good. And I brought this big plate
covered with aluminum foil, had roast beef, mashed potatoes,
green beans, just all the trim, a piece of pie. And I set it
on the table in the lunchroom there, and I went out to work. Oh, I was thinking about that
lunch. That's my lunch. My lunch. My wife fixed it for
me. My lunch. Right? Nobody else. I came in. Oh, I was ready to
eat that lunch, and I looked, and I saw something black down
the table leg and on the floor. I thought something had dripped
out of there, and I opened up. It was ants. My whole plate was
covered with ants. black, and there was a row of
ants all the way down the table leg, across the floor, out the
door. Every ant in Boyd County, I think, was getting my lunch. They were telling all their friends,
hey, hey, hey. I was furious. I was furious at my lunch. They'd
ask me, I'd throw them something. No, they just took it. It was
rightfully mine. What did I do? I got a fusee. Steve, you don't want a fusee.
Flare. And for you Franklin County, you don't want to talk about
flares. You're talking about a flare that you burned in a
hot, hottest thing. Aren't they hot, Steve? I went
out to the trash can, took a plate and all. Dumped it in a trash
can. That was created for me! That
didn't belong to them. They didn't ask my permission.
I threw it all in a trash can. Set that trash can on fire. Then
I took that fuse there, that flare, and went everywhere, burning
up ants. Every ant I saw, I burned its
butt. I mean, burned it up. I cleansed that whole place of
ants. Did I have a right to do that?
Sure did. And I sat down. The whole gospel
went through my mind right here. I sat down on a bench. And I looked down and there was
another ant. I know it was in on it. I know
he was in on it. He's guilty. I started to get me another fuse
out. And that ant crawled under a rock. And I started crying. You know
where I'm coming from? That rock is Christ, scripture
says. A rock of ages, cleft for me. Let me hide myself in thee. All
this came running through my mind. That's me, but for the
grace of God. Live all my life in rebellion to God. Take him,
take him, take him. Never ask him, never thank him.
Take him, take him, take him. The whole world, take, take,
take, take. God's going to set it on fire. But God, rich in
mercy, put a rock, a stumbling stone, a rock of fence, a rock,
Christ Jesus on this earth. He that believeth, he that hides
in him, he that comes to him, be safe from the overflowing
scourge of God's wrath. I said to that aunt, I said,
aunt, little buddy, you stay right there and you're safe. I won't touch you. Stay right
there in that rock. You're guilty, but right there's
your refuge. Stay right there. Don't come
out. Stay right there. And there's therefore now no
condemnation to them that what? Are in Christ. Hiding in Him. Hiding in Him. See, we're all
guilty, but by God's mercy and grace, he's shown us Christ,
revealed us Christ, swapped places with us. We say it's nothing
to us. It's not us at all, at all. It's a God that showed mercy.
It's a God that pointed me to Christ. It's a God that gave
me repentance and faith, and God that led me to Christ, and
God that Gave me a letter to the gospel, and God, God, God,
of God, through God, to God, of God, are all things. It's
of God that showeth mercy. Salvation's of the Lord. He chose
whom he would. Thank God. Thank God for his
sovereign mercy. All right. That's as plain as
I can make it. Now, what number, Brother Gabe? Number 268? No. 355. Okay. In the green book, number
355. Please stand. you