Did y'all hear that knee pop
when I got up? Things like that happen a lot
anymore. Turn to your Bibles to Romans
chapter 3 and Romans chapter 9. It's a delight to be here. I hope that green light's on. Bingo. Alright. I was excited when Bill called
and asked me to come and preach. Our schedules had been in conflict
a couple of times He had asked me to preach and I was unable
to and I was so glad to be here and I don't get excited about
much anymore. I did get excited this week that I got a free flu
shot on my Medicare card, so I thought that was pretty exciting. 1978, June. I stood in this pulpit for the
first time, preached from Galatians chapter 5 and verse 11 on the
fence of the cross. That Sunday morning I taught
Sunday school and almost fainted. Some of you might have been there.
And I was pretty scared to be up here. But it's a good place
to be. Where man can stand upon the
rock Christ Jesus and preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ is just nothing better. It's a delight to see a lot of
dear, dear old friends It's just a blessing. I want
to read two passages of scripture. The title of my message tonight
is, What If? What If? In Romans chapter 3, verse 3, it says, For what if
some did not believe? What if some did not believe?
Shall their unbelief make the faith or the faithfulness of
God without effect? Then over in Romans chapter 9, verse 22, what if God, willing
to show His wrath and make His power known, endured with much
longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction,
and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the
vessels of mercy which He had aforeprepared unto glory? The thing that's repeated in
both of these Verses is the question, what if? What if? Everybody I
know has asked this question, usually to themselves, at some
time in their life. Every parent has asked it when
their children are long out of their sight. What if the bus
is running to the creek? What if they're all right? For
those who live in the past, this question is a torment because
it's utterly useless. can change nothing, and in the
end proves to oppress and bring grief to the person that utters
it. What if? A lot of people live
there. It's a sad place to live. I suppose
this question is the lifeblood of the inventor, the researcher. I'm sure that most of the medicines
and vaccines that we take for granted today began with the
question, well, what if? this would work, or what if that
would work? Likewise, in all probability,
what if it turned the rock or turned the washboard into the
Maytag, really? Generally speaking, the result
of asking this question or being asked this question is discomfort.
I've found that to be true. What if? And the reason is twofold. First, it means we can't have
an answer, or we don't have an answer, and any input was not
ours because, at its best, it is merely the pure speculation.
What if? Secondly, it's a kind of confession.
It is a confession. There is nothing
we can do to change anything or to affect anything. And because
of our carnal nature, we probably will never stop asking this useless
question altogether. Even though the results are always
the same, we have no answer. The question, however, has a
kind of power to it, doesn't it? What if? It's not about the
power being possessed. It's about power employed over
the person or the mind. In the midst of tragedy, I've
heard many posit the question, what if I'd been there? I've
said that myself. I wonder what if I'd been there. As a kid coming
home past curfew and knowing I was going to get in trouble
considering the reaction of my dad, I'd say, What if he's still
up? The question is moot because
we cannot know unless we are there. And if we are there, we
probably later ask it anyway, well, what if I hadn't been there? We cannot be present in the past,
nor can we be present in the future. We are stuck in the now,
and that's where we're at right now. So what if is a little more
than a futile exercise of the imagination. But this question
means something, these questions. This question is seen twice in
the New Testament. And though it is a form of question,
it is also an answer or a statement or a declaration. And it is usually
put forth to address a wrong view or an erroneous view. It's employed to stop the carnal
mind for a moment, to pause, to keep it from running off the
deep end. And it has real power in it, at least for the moment. It can halt our runaway minds.
What this word means is this question when it's asked in scripture,
what if, means what can you do about it? That's what it means. What can you do about it? What if God, and that's where
the emphasis is. They say the emphasis is on that
syllabus. What if God? Not what if God,
but what if God? What if God is as He says He
is, and not like we think or imagine that He is? I had a fellow
not long ago I was speaking to, he wanted to know something about
what I preached, and I was given an opportunity to tell him. He
said, I just can't believe God's like that. I said, well, what
if He is? What if He is? What if God has
done what He has said He has done? What if God acts without consideration
of our opinion? What if God will not give account
of His matters to anyone, but rather does, as the Scripture
says, as He pleases, with whom He pleases and however He pleases
and wherever He pleases. What if God, what if God saves
sinners the way He says He saves sinners and not what our religion
would want Him to say? When I was reading Romans 9 just
a few moments ago and being in this place, I thought about Charlie
Payne and the story he told at the time he went to some church
when he went to the beach somewhere They asked him to read a passage
of scripture in Sunday school and he read Romans chapter 9. And they said after he finished,
well, we don't believe that. He said, well, I was just reading
the Word of God. They said, we don't believe the
way you read it. What if what we think has nothing
to do with God's thoughts. Or what if our ways has nothing
to do with His ways? That's what He says. And that's
not a matter of degrees, is it? We don't think almost like He
thinks. Our ways are not almost like
His ways. His ways are not our ways. And His thoughts are not
our thoughts. And that's never the twain shall
meet. He is God and we are not. This question, what if, kind
of puts the skids on us all together, doesn't it? What can we do about
it? If God is as He says He is, what
can we do about it? Nothing. In the two times this
question is asked, it answers once and for all most of the
carnal, natural errors of humanity and its religion, especially
as it concerns God and His salvation. And remember, when we're talking
about God's salvation, we're talking about grace. We're talking
about the sweetest of all things, yet the response to these things
is often anger and hatred. We're talking about the finest
thing that any man could ever learn anything about, and that's
the grace of God. Men have carnal minds, and humanity
and its religion doesn't understand or will not understand God's
salvation. And I believe that's the case.
It's not that folks don't understand, it's folks don't want it. They don't like it. They understand. These preachers get out here
and say, well, this is confusing. That's a lie. They're just chicken. It's a
lie. Do you understand predestination?
Of course you do. You used it about 30 times to
get here tonight. Didn't you? You planned your
trip. You planned the time you was
going to get here. You predetermined what car you was going to drive.
You even probably predetermined to make sure you had enough gas
in the tank to get here. You predetermined what turns to make.
To get here, you're predetermined to open that door and walk into
this building. That's predestination. You're all predestined. What
about election? Well, that's hard to understand.
That's not hard to understand. It's so simple. God chooses or
has chosen whom he would say. You choose all the time, don't
you? You choose all the time. We understand that. Men just
can't swallow it, but they surely understand it. The first time
this term is used, what if, is used to address what men think
are the effects of unbelief on God and His Word. Paul has set
forth in Romans chapter 1 and Romans chapter 2, the carnal
mind of the Gentiles and the carnal mind of the Jews, and
concluded in verse 3, or chapter 3, that they are all under sin
and they are all condemned. Both the carnal mind, which refuses
to acknowledge God as He is, and ends up in reprobation. And
the Jewish mind, which refuses to acknowledge God as He is,
and ends up in self-righteousness. Both of them are condemned. But
the Word of God was given to the Jews, wasn't it? They had
the oracles, they had the priesthood, they had the law, the sacrifices,
the rites, the ceremonies, all those things. They had thousands
and thousands and thousands of lambs and bullocks and kids that
were slain through the ages. They had heard from God. God
brought them out of Egypt and put a cloud over their head by
day and a fiery pillar to guide them by night. God divided an
ocean for them so they could walk through on dry land. They
knew something about God. And the question comes then,
well, if they had all of this and they still were in unbelief,
what does that mean? The question is, well, what if
some did not believe? Shall their unbelief make void
the faith or the faithfulness of God? Paul is addressing the
advantage of the Jew. The Jew and Gentile both are
likewise under sin. What advantage did they have
if the Word of God has seemingly had no effect on them? They do
not believe. Does their unbelief make void
the faithfulness of the Word of God? Because clearly it does
not work for everybody it seems. Not in the same way anyway. But
the Word of God always works exactly as it's supposed to.
Paul also addresses this in chapter 90. We'll look at that in a few
moments. But he said that all that is of Israel is not Israel.
But out of two kids that were born, I chose one and discarded
the other. I paid attention to one and didn't
think about the other. I loved one and I hated the other. So the Word of God did have an
effect on both. On both. The erroneous notion
that religion sets forth that God is somehow upset when men
don't believe, it's just foolish. This erroneous notion is the
breeding ground of all kinds of carnal inventions that are
counted as cardinal doctrine in the world of religion today.
One thinks that the Bible is not enough, then he will have
to come up with some other way of getting things done. Some pipe dream of free will,
or injected in the glory of salvation. The fact that spiritual things
are invisible is not set well with religion so the invitation
system is born so people can see somebody being saved and
make a head count. The fear that men might believe
are actually set free gives birth
to the incorporation of the law. When we talk about the gospel
of grace, we're talking about people who are not bound by anything
except love for Jesus Christ. They're not bound by anything.
You are the free man. All things are mine, Paul said. They're legal to me. They're
mine, lawfully mine. Now some things I won't do because
they don't help me, they don't help the brethren, they don't
glorify God. But everything is free. And that
idea of freedom is feared by legalistic religion. They're
more afraid of freedom than we are of bondage. So they incorporate
the law. They incorporate the fear of
censure, the fear of judgment, or the promise of reward in order
to get obedient behavior out of men. Well, what if God has
fixed it so that His word always has an effect? His Word always
has an effect and His desired effect. And man's unbelief does
not throw him into a slew of despond or to summon emotional
angst. He says this of those who preach
the gospel and the gospel they preach in 2 Corinthians chapter
2. He said this, we are always triumphant
in Christ when we preach the gospel. It always is a sweet
smelling savor to God, always. That result has nothing to do
with us. It has to do with the Word that's being preached. It
always does what it's supposed to do. It's doing what it's supposed
to do here tonight, and tomorrow night, and Saturday, and Sunday,
when Bill gets back in the pulpit, it's going to do the same thing.
It always has the desired effect. To God, it always smells good.
It's like the sweet-smelling savor. That fat put on the fire
that lifts the smoke under God's nostrils of that sacrifice. A
sacrifice of Christ, that substitutionary work wherein He accomplished
salvation and redemption for His people. That smells good
to God, and we're just telling people that's what happened.
Christ accomplished salvation, and it smells good to God, but
also to people. Some people don't like the way
it smells. To some people it's the savor of death. And to some
it's a saver of life. And Paul realizing the weight
of what that is as he spoke these words, that some people were
going to be hardened by the same words that softened the hearts
of others. He said, I'm not sufficient for these things. But that's
what happens. Gary wrote an article several years ago about his confidence
in the Word. It's a good article. If you can
get a hold of it, you ought to read it. The Word of God always
works. One fellow asked, Another fellow
says, how does electricity work? He said, really well. And that's
how the gospel works. It works really well. It always
works really well. If unbelief does not bother God,
and it doesn't. Read John chapter 6 and John
chapter 10 and find out what the Lord said to those who were
unbelievers. Those who didn't believe Him,
He said, well, all the fathered gives me, she'll come to me.
And him that come to me, I will in the wise cast down. Another
group of religious folks says, well if thou art the Christ,
tell us for sure. He said, I already told you,
you didn't believe. My sheep hear my voice and they follow
me and I give unto them eternal life. How does he handle unbelief?
That's the way we ought to handle it too. We ought to come up with
a plan on how to witness to somebody if he's a Jew or if he's a Gentile
or if he's a Hispanic or if he's this or that. Here's what you
tell them. Well, God's people are going
to be saved. God's sheep are going to come
to Christ. Every one of them will. We have
confidence and that's why we stand here. That's why we stand
here. What if the fix is in? What if? What can you do about it? What
can you do about it? Then over in Romans chapter 9,
the second question is asked, and it addresses three common
errors of human free will works meritorious religion. Romans
chapter 9, beginning with verse 22. What if God? What if God?
Now this is an answer to the oppositions that have been spoken
to what he has said thus far in this passage of Scripture.
What if God? The first error is man's notion
of fairness. We have an idea about fairness.
People have all kinds of ideas. There's a big deal in the political
realm in America today about fairness. People have an idea
about fairness. Religion believes God is fair
and treats all men equally and to say or think otherwise is
anathema to religion. What if God is partial to some
and not to others? What if God likes some and don't
like others? What if God has pets? and doesn't have others as pets. What if? What if? What are you
going to do about it? What are you going to do about
it? What if God loved some and hated
others? What if God didn't give everybody
a chance? What if? Beginning in verse 6, it says
this in chapter 9, Not as though the word of God hath taken none
effect, for they are not all Israel which are of Israel, neither
because they are the seed of Abraham, as they are children.
Are they all children? But in Isaac shall that seed
be called. That is, they which are the children of the flesh,
these are not the children of God, but the children of the
promise. are counted for the seed. For
this is the word of promise, at this time I will come, and
Sarah shall have a son. But not only this, but when Rebekah
had also conceived even by one, even by her father Isaac, for
the children not being yet born, having done neither good nor
evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand,
not of works, but him that calleth, it is said unto her, The elder
shall serve the younger, which is backwards. As it is written,
Jacob have I loved, and Esau Have I hated? What's the natural response? That ain't fair. They hadn't done any good or
evil. There was no basis upon which either one of them could
recommend himself to God. There was no basis to see any
difference between the two. It's just not fair. For God to
say of one before they were even born, I loved this one. From all eternity I loved this
one. From all eternity I set my affection
upon this one. From all eternity I predestinate
him to be a trophy of my grace. And for this other one, I'm not
even going to think about it. Because that's what the word
here means. The Hebrew word for hate means
to utterly, actively work against. Hate. The Greek word means to
totally disregard. I'd rather have the first one,
wouldn't you? In dealing with people, wouldn't you rather have
the first one? The fellow vehemently hates me and I know it. I'm good.
I know where we stand. But I don't like to be disregarded.
Do you? God disregards some and loves
and has loved others. The natural response of verse
14. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? God not fair? God forbid. God forbid. What if God says
the salvation of some and not the others is a righteous and
right thing to do. We know salvation is by grace,
and there is no difference between Esau and Jacob. In fact, if we
were true to ourselves, we would probably like to hang around
with Esau more than we'd like to hang around with Jacob. I
mean, Esau was a hunter. He was a man's man. He was a
robust fellow. Knew how to make venison stew.
All of us like venison stew. Jacob was a mama's boy. He was
a whiner. He was a supplanter. He used
trickery. He was subversive is what he
was. You just want to slap him around
and get rid of him. Don't bring that guy in my house.
I don't want him around. God says, I have loved him and
loved him from all eternity. He's my prize and my trophy. I want to show grace to him and
have shown grace to him. And you know what? Saving the
old Jacob, that's the right thing to do. God said that. Said that about you, Rob. I know
you think, how can that be? But that's right. And He'll tell
the world one day that. He'll look at you and say, see
that man right there? It's right for me to save him. Romans chapter 3 again. Verse 24, being justified freely
by His grace through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ, whom
God has set forth of propitiation through faith in His blood to
declare His righteousness in the remissions of sins that are
passed through the forbearance of God, to declare, I say at
this time, His righteousness, that He might be just and justify
of him that believes. Now we know initially the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ, there's no doubt about that. But God
is saying that saving His people was the right thing to do. Why
was it the right thing to do? Because it had been made right.
It had been made right on a Calvary's cross 2,000 years ago when Jesus
Christ took our sins upon Himself, was made sin for us. Who knows
what sin? And we were made the very righteousness
of God in Him. It was made right. God's law
required death. And that word propitiation means
a satisfaction. Jesus Christ was set forth not
to be. That was added, I know, but you
really need to leave that off there. And in 1 John chapter
4, you need to leave that off. He was set forth a propitiation,
a satisfaction, an appeasement. That was made on Calvary's tree.
Jesus Christ, thy propitiation. And when He put away our sins
behind God's back, buried them in the bottom of the sea as far
as the east is from the west, whatever metaphor you want to
use to describe it. When He put away our sins and
perfected us forever and sanctified and was made to be our wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification and redemption, when that took
place, it was absolutely right for God to save you. It was absolutely
right. Because everything had been taken
care of by the Lord Jesus Christ. By the Lord Jesus Christ. What if God says it's right to
save you, you wretched old vile sinner? Unclean and undone, drinking
iniquity like water. Dark, doomed, dead, damned and
dying, all of that. God says it's right to save him.
What if God says that? What are you going to do about
it? What can you do about it? The second error addressed is
the universal notion that mercy and grace are offered to all,
and it is up to man to exercise his will to take advantage of
the offer and appropriate God into his life, as if he had a
life. The corrupt mind is rife with
ways of elaborating on this man-exalting thing. They say things like,
let go and let God. Won't you let God save you? Won't
you invite Jesus into your heart? Won't you make Jesus your Lord?
Won't you accept Jesus? What if all of that is poppycock? What if? What if grace and mercy
are not an offer? What if even your hardness of
heart can be traced to God's will as its source? What if? What if? We'll read on. Verse 15, 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. Some would say, well, God don't
have to say it. He does if He's going to have compassion. If
He said He's going to be gracious, somebody's going to be saved.
If He said He's going to be merciful, somebody's going to be saved.
Now we can't compel Him to do anything. He's God, we're not.
But He said, I'm going to be gracious. Ain't that good news? I'm going to be merciful. So
then, it is not Him that willeth, Nor of him that runneth, but
of God, that showeth mercy. For the Scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, Even for this 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. Therefore hath he mercy on whom
he will have mercy, and whom he will, he hardeneth. He hardeneth. What if even your
hard heart, unrepentant heart, can be traced to God's will. But what if? What can you do about it? Huh? He doeth His will. He doeth according
to His will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants
of the earth. And none can stay His hand. None can stop it. None
can slow Him down. None can thwart His purpose.
None can frustrate His purpose. He doeth His will. And none can
stay His hand. And none can say, What are you
doing? What doeth that? You can't question
God. Now, if you want to ask God questions,
He'll answer you. He'll answer you. And if you
ask Him stupid questions, He won't hold it against you. But
you can't question Him on what He does. He does not give account
of His matter. In fact, we don't really know
what He's doing, we can only know what He's done. What's God
doing in the world today? What He's already done, what
He's already purposed, what He's already set on the course to
bring all things to the point of the end. What's God doing?
We get goofy sometimes, you know, we look at somebody after When
the preachers are looking at somebody and all of a sudden
somebody starts dropping tears out of their eyes, you think,
well, maybe, maybe, maybe God's working on it. We don't know
that. They might have a stomachache or might have an allergy for
all we know. That's causing their eyes to water. God has put the world in our
heart, he said in Ecclesiastes. That word world, It carries with
it the idea of the world. It's like a thing that we can
almost get a hold of but not quite. He's put that in our minds and
our hearts. So we think we have an answer and then it goes fleeting
away. Why? So we can never know what
He is doing at any time in the earth. We'll never know what
He's doing. Except we know this, He's doing
His will. The third error addressed is
the rationalization of the human recessive pool of gray matter
that ciphers thusly. If God's word always has its
desired effect, if God favors one and not another, if God loves
one and hates another, if God shows mercy and grace and even
hardens men's hearts according to his will, and I find that
I am not included in that purpose of salvation. How can He hold
me accountable if He made me the way I am? Good human logic, except His
thoughts are not our thoughts. His ways are not our ways. That's
what's asked here. Verse 19. Now it was saying to
me then, why doth He yet find fault? Who has resisted His will? How can He find fault with me? If it was according to His will,
I never knew Him. According to the wisdom of the
world, the man by wisdom cannot know God. Now what if that's
according to His will? What if? What if? What if? What kind of answer are you going
to get? None at all. The answer is an accusation against
someone for even saying that. It's an indictment for such audacity
and unmitigated gall to look in the face of God and charge
Him with something wrong. Whatever God does is righteous.
He speaks in righteousness. Everything He does is right.
Why is it right? Because He does it. He doesn't make something right.
He does it and it's right. He does it and it's right. The
answer is this, Nay, but O man, who art thou that
replies against God, shall the thing formed Say to him that
formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Why hast thou made me
thus? What if God says that you do
not even have a right or a warrant to ask Him such a question? What
if God counts your opinion of such insignificant value that
it is touted as mindless drivel? What if God declares that you,
your will and your thoughts, your reasoning, your logic is
nothing but inanimate matter? Mud mixed with water, clay, whose
form is absolutely in the hands and the expertise of the potter
alone. What if God says that? What if? Hath not the potter the power
over the clay? Of the same lump to make one
vessel into honor and another into dishonor? What if God? What if God? Will He? To show His wrath? and to make His power known,
endured with much longsuffering the vessels that He made to destroy
fitted to destruction, and that He might make known the riches
of His glory and the vessels of mercy which He hath foreprepared
unto glory." What is it? What can you say about it? What
can you do about it? We're not talking about you and
me. If I say something to you, you can slap me upside the head.
You can call me a liar. You can question me because my
thoughts are screwed up too, like all the rest of yours are.
But not God. What in the world can I do, preacher? Here's what I suggest. If you're interested in doing
something other than rebelling and reviling God for who He is,
I suggest you cease from your labor, bow to him, submit, surrender,
believe, say uncle, give up, yield. Like the old song says,
have thine own way, Lord. Have thine own way. I, you are
the potter. I am the clay. I am the clay. Good question. God bless you.