And while you're turning to Romans
chapter 9, I want to thank Josh Bice for this opportunity, this
invitation to preach the Word of God to you tonight. And it
has been a very distinct privilege for me to say that I have spoken
at every one of these G3 conferences. I have believed in what God is
doing in this conference before we ever had the first conference
and it is a great pleasure for me to be able to preach the Word
of God to such a receptive group of people. The title of my message
tonight is, The Doctrine of Sovereign Election and Missions. I want to begin reading what
will be our text that we will look at tonight, Romans chapter
9. I want to begin reading in verse
1. This is God's inspired, inerrant, infallible, and all-sufficient
Word. I am telling the truth in Christ. I am not lying. My conscience
testifies with me in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow
and unceasing grief in my heart. for I could wish that I myself
were accursed, separated from Christ, for the sake of my brethren,
my kinsmen according to the flesh." Now come to verse 6, for the
sake of time, or excuse me, verse 10. And not only this, but there
was Rebecca also. who when she had conceived twins
by one man, our father Isaac, for though the twins were not
yet born, and had not done anything good or bad, so that God's purpose
according to His choice would stand, not because of works,
but because of Him who calls. It was sent to her, the older
will serve the younger, just as it is written. Jacob I loved,
but Esau I hated. What shall we say then? There
is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be. For He says to Moses, I will
have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on
whom I have compassion. So then It does not depend on
the man who wills, or the man who runs, but on God who has
mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh,
for this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate my power
in you, and that my name might be proclaimed throughout the
whole earth. So then he has mercy. on whom He desires, and He hardens
whom He desires. You will say to me, then, why
does He still find fault? For who resists His will? On
the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The
thing molded will not say to the molder, why did you make
me like this? Will it? or does not the potter
have a right over the clay to make from the same lump one vessel
for honorable use and another for common use? What if God,
although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power
known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for
destruction. And He did so to make known the
riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand
for glory. Even so, whom He also called,
not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles. The greatest missionary who ever
lived was the Apostle Paul. No man ever blazed a trail to
take the gospel to those who had never heard the name of Christ
like did the Apostle Paul and risked his life as he did. His
passion was to go into all the known world. to preach Christ
and Him crucified. Paul was the epitome of a true
missionary, one sent with the gospel. And he desired not to
build upon another man's foundation. He did not want to reap what
another man had sowed. This drove Paul to faraway lands
to preach the gospel in places where the gospel had never been
heard He was a missionary par excellence. Yet, at the same
time, no one was stronger on the doctrine of sovereign election
than was the Apostle Paul. Paul was a sovereign grace man. He was a doctrines of grace preacher. In fact, he stood himself as
exhibit A of being a trophy of the sovereign grace of God. For it was the apostle Paul who
was on the road to Damascus in Acts chapter 9 with letters in
hand to apprehend the believers and to drag them back to Jerusalem
to stand trial and very probably to be stoned to death just like
Stephen was after his defense of the gospel before the Sanhedrin.
And he was on that Damascus road. Paul was not looking for Christ.
He was looking to apprehend the believers. Jesus appeared to
him on that road and knocked him off of his high horse. And
in a moment, he was suddenly converted by sovereign grace. And from that point on, Paul
knew the power of the sovereign grace of God. because it was
that which rescued him from ruin. And for the rest of his life,
Paul preached and taught the doctrines of grace, and when
you read his epistles, it is usually in chapter 1, verse 2
or 3 or 4 that Paul is already bringing up the doctrines of
grace. As we come to Romans 9, we come
to the monumental chapter in the entire Bible that towers
over the landscape of sacred Scripture that testifies to the
sovereignty of God in salvation. And what we find in this chapter
so uniquely is how the Apostle Paul takes missionary zeal in
one hand. and how He takes the supreme
authority of God in salvation with the other hand, and how
He brings the two together in one presentation of the truth
that becomes a juggernaut of truth. It is all here in this
one chapter, both missions and the sovereignty of God. It's
here in one passage. It is here by one preacher, igniting
one passion. And so tonight, I want us to
walk through this text, and for us to be reminded again that
the doctrine of sovereign election is not a hindrance to missions. It is the doctrine of sovereign
election that empowers and ignites missions, and it is the doctrine
of sovereign election that guarantees the success of missions around
the world. And if I did not believe in the
doctrine of election, I would not go to the mission field,
because it is this truth that states that there are a people
whom God chose from before the foundation of the world that
God will save, and there is nothing that will hinder them from coming
to faith in Christ when the Word of God is made known to them. So I want you to note first,
in the first five verses, Paul's burden for perishing sinners. And Paul begins this Mount Everest
of a chapter by expressing his deep, heart-wrenching burden
for those who are without Christ. And so he begins in verse 1,
which I've already read. He states, I am telling the truth
in Christ, I am not lying. Paul is saying, if I have ever
told you the truth, I'm telling you the truth now. He is speaking
out of the depth of His being. He is stressing and even overstressing
that He is bearing witness of what is in His bones, what is
in His heart, and He even in verse 1 calls Christ to testify
that He is bearing witness to the truth. He is not exaggerating. He is not speaking beyond the
mere truth that is in his heart. No, he says, I am telling the
truth in Christ. I am not lying. Verse 2, that
I have a great sorrow. This word great is megas, from
which we get the English word mega. Paul has a gigantic sorrow
in his soul, and it is for those who are without Christ. Paul
is not mechanical in the ministry. He is not stoic in his service
of the gospel. His heart is about to leap out
of his chest as he has great sorrow and unceasing grief that
is constant. It is throbbing on the inside
of his soul. morning and afternoon and night,
day after day, unceasing grief. It is an all-consuming pain. Paul says, I live with this burden
that is heavy upon me, and he says, it's in my heart at the
end of verse 2, meaning it's not a superficial feeling on
the facade of his life, but it is down in the very epicenter
of his being. And he says in verse 3, for I
could wish that I myself were accursed. That Greek word anathema
means to be damned. It means to be devoted to destruction
and eternal hell. And Paul knew that he could not
lose his salvation in Christ. Just read Romans 8, 29 and 30,
and verses 31 to 39 at the end of the previous chapter. But
Paul's heart is literally beating and pounding and exploding within
his soul, and he is willing to be separated from Christ if he
could only be the means by which God would use to bring the gospel
to His fellow who are lost and who are perishing and who are
under the wrath of God. And though Paul has burned his
bridges behind him, when he came to faith in Jesus Christ and
left the world system behind him, he did not leave his affection
for those who are lost in the world. He wanted to run back,
if he could, as though into a house that is on fire in order to rescue
and snatch those who are perishing. Paul is saying that he is willing
to lose Christ if they could but gain Christ. He is willing
to go to hell if they could but go to heaven. He is willing to
suffer damnation if they could but savor salvation. He is willing
to endure the lake of fire if they could but once drink from
the river of life. And he says at the end of verse
3, for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh,"
and by this he's referring to his fellow Jews. It's not enough
that Paul knew Christ and then he was saved, he must have his
fellow brethren be saved as well. And he says in verse 4, who are Israelites,
meaning physical Jews, and he now says eight things about them.
Let me just run through this list in verse 4. who are Israelites,
number one, to whom belongs the adoption as sons. They are the
chosen nation who are just like a firstborn son, Exodus 422. And the glory refers to the special
saving revelation from God concerning who He is and the way to Him,
the path of salvation. And the covenants refer to the
Abrahamic covenant, the Mosaic covenant, the Palestinian covenant,
the Davidic covenant. So much has been given to Israel. and the giving of the law, referring
to the Mosaic law, the moral law, the ceremonial law, the
civil law, and the temple service, referring to the entire sacrificial
system of the priest and the sacrifice, and in making an atonement
for sin, and the promises, referring to the promises of the coming
Messiah, verse 5, whose are the fathers, referring to Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, the patriarchs of Israel. And then finally,
and from whom is the Christ. Jesus was born a Jew. He was
born of the, in the Messianic lineage, the greater Son of David,
the greater Son of the promise. And as He mentions Christ, and
to whom, who has come from the loins of Israel. He says concerning
Christ in verse 5, who is overall a reference to the absolute supreme
sovereignty of Christ, Matthew 28 verse 18, all authority in
heaven and earth has been given unto me. And then he says, God
blessed forever. That is a statement of the absolute
deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, that He was not only truly man,
but that He was truly God. He was the God-man. He was God
in human flesh. This says He is God-blessed forever. And then Paul adds amen to what
he has just said. And what we learn here is that
Paul is torn up on the inside at the very thought that his
own people, his own brethren are perishing without Christ,
and he cannot bear the thought. It is ripping his heart out of
his chest. He is distraught. He is devastated
over these lost souls. This is the very heartbeat that
we must have for missions, for reaching the world with the gospel
of Jesus Christ that is perishing this very moment and is under
the wrath of God and without hope. We must have no rest until
all find their rest in Christ. We must go until all know. We
must speak until all hear. We must preach until all believe. There must be this burden within
us, just like it was in the Apostle Paul, that dominates us and drives
us to take the gospel to all people on all continents. It
was Jesus in Matthew 9 and in verse 36, upon seeing the multitudes,
He felt compassion for them. And out of the original Greek,
this word felt compassion really means out of the bowels. Out
of the very depth of our Lord's being, as He looked at the crowds
and saw them as sheep without a shepherd, it so moved Him that
He felt compassion for them. It was John Knox who said, give
me Scotland or I die. It was George Whitefield who
said, give me souls or take my soul. It was Charles Haddon Spurgeon
who said, it is better to die than to live if souls be not
saved. If we are to fulfill the Great
Commission, if we are to reach the world for Christ, there must
be this same driving passion and depth of feeling for those
without Christ of which Paul writes here And Paul will frame
this in Romans 10 and verse 1 by saying, brethren, my heart's
desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. Paul was not just coldly academic
about the state of the lost world. He didn't just write it off as,
well, that's just the sovereignty of God. No, Paul, rightly so,
is the supreme example to us after Christ Himself of what
must be stirring within our soul and within the depths of our
being. Do you have a heart for lost
people? Do you see the crowds and feel
compassion? Do you see what's on the newspaper
and on television, and does your heart not leap out of your chest
and want them to know Christ. But in the midst of this plea that just is like an artesian
well that just comes shooting up out of the depth of Paul's
soul, beginning in verse 6, is the most significant text in
the entire Bible. on the absolute sovereignty of
God in salvation. And what we see here, if there
was no other passage in the entire Bible, and there are other passages,
but we see living next to each other like neighbors across the
fence, yet joining hands, we see on one hand a burden for
lost, perishing souls, and on the other hand, immediately in
the same context, Paul's boldness and his belief in the doctrine
of sovereign election. Notice how verse 6 begins. It begins with the word, but.
But it is not as though the Word of God has failed. Why would
He say that? Because He understands that the
nation Israel will be saved in the last days. He will go into
that in great detail in Romans chapter 11, that all Israel will
be saved. But as He looks around, He sees
an apostate nation. He sees Israel with hardness
of heart and with no desire for the gospel. He sees Israel that
has just crucified the Lord Jesus Christ. And how He squares this,
He wants us to know that it is not that the Word of God has
failed. He says, for they are not all
Israel who are descended from Israel. In other words, there
is a true Israel within the larger circle of physical Israel. And true Israel are those who
are regenerated by the Spirit of God and brought into the kingdom
of God by sovereign election, by sovereign grace. And he says in verse 7, nor are
they all children because they are Abraham's descendants. In
other words, just because they are born a physical Jew does
not mean that they are a spiritual Jew. There is always a remnant
within the larger circumference. He says, but through Isaac, your
descendants will be named. And there he begins to hint at
the doctrine of sovereign election, that it would be, the promise
would come not through Ishmael, but it would come through Isaac. So verse 8, that is, it is not
the children of the flesh, meaning physical Jews, who are the children
of God, meaning the true children of God, but the children of the
promise are regarded as descendants. And from this point on, Paul
now throws down onto the table the trump cards for the doctrine
of election, which is that from before the foundation of the
world, before time began, in eternity past, God the Father
chose out of the whole human race that has fallen in Adam
and is perishing under His own just wrath. God has chosen His
elect. God has chosen a bride for His
Son, and it is based upon nothing good that He sees in those who
are chosen. In fact, He chooses them not
because of them, He chooses them in spite of them. The reason
is found in the eternal counsels of God alone, and it is bubbling
up because of His sovereign love that He chooses to set upon His
elect and that it guarantees that they will come to faith
in Christ at the appointed time, and they are scattered all over
the world, and they are in every nation, and they are in every
country, and they are of every tribe and tongue, This doctrine of election in
no way discourages the work of missions. This doctrine of election
actually inflames our passion for missions. The doctrine of
election pours gas onto the fire of missions. The doctrine of
election ignites missions, and it empowers missions. Election
is a great missionary doctrine. Why? Because it is the doctrine
of election, as I've already said, that guarantees the success
of missions, that Christ will not die in vain. that the gospel
will not come back void, that there will be a bride for the
Lord Jesus, that there will be a church, that there will be
those who are dead in trespasses and sin, who will be raised from
the grave of their own iniquities, and who will be brought to faith
in Jesus Christ. It is the doctrine of election
that teaches that there is a people whom God will save. And without the doctrine of election,
we are left without confidence. We are left without a certain
hope. We are left only to look to ourselves
and our own methodologies. But it is the doctrine of election
that enlarges our faith and gives us a daunting courage in the
face of all opposition. that as we go forth and preach
the gospel in other lands, even if we have to lay down our life
as a martyr, the eternal purposes of God will march forward triumphantly,
and every single one of God's chosen elect will come to faith
in Jesus Christ. This is a glorious triumph of
election in the cause of missions. So beginning in verse 9, I want
to give you some words to teach us about the doctrine of election,
some individual words that will specify certain truths, glorious
truths. I want you to note first, it
is an unmerited choice. Beginning in verse 9, we see
that the choice is made not based upon anything good foreseen in
the one chosen. in verse 9, and this is the word
of promise, and he now quotes Genesis 18, verse 10, "'At this
time I will come, and Sarah will have a son.' That son was Isaac,
who was chosen by God from before the foundation of the world,
passing over Esau. And in verse 10, the next generation,
and not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had
conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac. And those twins,
one was named Jacob, and the other was named Esau. Verse 11,
for though the twins were not yet born, and had not done anything
good or bad, so the basis was not upon anything in them, and
it's nothing foreseen for no other reason. Let me just tell
you this. God has never looked down the proverbial tunnel of
time and ever learned anything. All that God sees is what He
is already foreordained. And so He says, so that God's
purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works,
but because of Him who calls. And so the salvation rests upon
God's choice before the twins were ever born, and it rests
upon God's effectual, sovereign calling within time. The whole
matter of salvation rests ultimately with those whom God chose before
time and those whom God calls within time. It is an unmerited
choice. Their destiny was already marked
out before either twin entered into the world. A second we see
in verse 12, it's an unexpected choice, because as God makes
His choice, God most often chooses the very opposite individual
than whom man would choose. So He says in verse 12, it was
said to her, and He now quotes Genesis 25-23, the older will
serve the younger." And at this time,
the birthright went to the older son, and the younger son would
serve the older son. But in this case, God chose not
the older for salvation. He chose the younger for salvation,
and it would be the older that would serve the younger. This
is the way God chooses. He chooses the very opposite
of what you and I would expect. I mean, if we were starting the
church, we would choose the brightest and the best. We would choose
the richest and the most beautiful. We would choose those in the
world who are of highest stature. But James 2, 5 says God has chosen
the poor to be rich in faith. And in 1 Corinthians 1, verse
26, God says, that consider your calling, brethren,
that not many wise according to flesh, not many noble, but
God has chosen the base things of the world to confound the
wise and the wicked. And the reason God chooses to
reach all the way down to the bottom of the barrel and to save
the least likely person and to use them to bring glory to Himself
is that all the the praise goes to God for what comes of their
life. Nobody can say, well, look at
that church. No wonder they're so successful.
Look at all those rich people. Look at all those powerful people
to go to church there. No. God delights in choosing
those that are the leftovers of the world predominantly in
order to reach the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. This
is the way God has chosen to operate. Every one of us here
tonight who are in Christ, every single one of us should say to
God, why me, God? Why did you choose to set your
heart of saving love upon me? Third, I want you to note it
was a loving choice. In verse 13, we read that God
has a special love for those whom He has chosen to save that
far exceeds the general love that He has for the non-elect.
You see, God does not love everyone the same. God has a special saving
love for those whom He has chosen. And so he says in verse 13, just
as it is written, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated. This is a quote from Malachi
1, verse 2, that God set His heart of saving affection upon
Jacob and all of his elect and passed over Esau whom he hated. I don't think that means He just
loved Esau less. I think it means that God has
God is angry with the wicked every day, as the psalmist says.
Sinners in the hands of an angry God, as Jonathan Edwards said.
And to tell you the truth, I can understand why Esau was hated. I cannot understand how Jacob
was loved. And earlier in Romans 8 and verse
29, it says, and those whom He foreknew, if you know anything
about the original Greek language, you know that that does not mean
foresight. You know what that means, that
God previously loved His elect. And to know someone is to love
someone in biblical language. And foreknowledge means those
whom God previously loved from before the foundation of the
world. You see, the doctrine of election
is one of the most loving truths taught in the Bible. and to hear
some people argue about it and combat and rise up against it,
saying that it is a harsh doctrine, have no understanding of what
the truth is, that this is one of the most loving doctrines
Jacob I loved. that God, if you're in Christ
tonight, that before time began, God chose to set His saving love
upon you for no reason other than God chose to love you. He
chose to love us when we were unlovely. It was a loving choice. And God passed over all the others
and left them to their just punishment. And please note fourth, it's
a merciful choice. In verse 14, we read, what shall
we say then? And what Paul does here in verse
14, he'll do it later in verse 19, is he anticipates an imaginary
objector. Paul can, in his mind, it is
as though he is saying, I know exactly the objections you want
to raise, and you want to now say that's not fair. And so in verse 14, Paul, like
an attorney, bringing it out before the other attorney can
bring it out, Paul says, what shall we say then? There is no
injustice with God, is there? There's no unfairness with God,
is there? There is no inequity with God,
is there? Please note the next four words.
May it never be. There's two words in the Greek,
meganoito. It is the strongest denunciation
and denial of something that has been set forth. It means
a thousand times no. No, no, never! God is not unfair. And the reason that this is brought
into effect in the discussion on election is we must understand
this. God does not owe salvation to
anyone. You don't want complete fair. because hell is fair for you. You want mercy. You don't want
fairness. Everyone in heaven is there by
mercy. Everyone in hell is there by
fairness. So we read in verse 15 that this
is a merciful choice For he says to Moses, and he now quotes Exodus
33 verse 19, and you might be asking, why does he keep quoting
the Old Testament? And one reason among others is
this, what Paul is teaching us is nothing new. This has been
in the Bible from the very beginning. This has been taught in Genesis
and Exodus and throughout the entirety of the Old Testament,
all the way to Malachi 1 verse 2. For He says to Moses, I will
have mercy, referring to saving grace, on whom I have mercy. and I will have compassion on
whom I have compassion." God is the Speaker, and let us understand
this here tonight. God is free to give what is undeserved
to whomever He pleases. That is called mercy. It is the
very antithesis of justice. And all who are chosen by God
for salvation from before the foundation of the world are those
who receive mercy, that which they do not deserve. And all
who are passed over by God and not chosen for salvation actually
receive specifically what they do deserve, which is eternal
damnation. There is no injustice with God. In verse 16, fifth, we see it's
a divine choice. He says in verse 16, so then
it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs. The ultimate destiny of your
life is in the hands of God. It is not in your own hands,
and it does not depend on your will. Ultimately, there is only
one free will in the universe, and it is the free will of a
sovereign God in heaven. And it does not depend upon the
man who runs, because Romans 3 verses 11 through 12 says,
there's none who seeks after God, no, not one. And if it was
left up to you and me, all of us were running away from God. It was God who had to run us
down. The only true seeker is God. And he says at the end of verse
16, but on God who has mercy. There are some people who want
to do an end run on this profound truth and say, well, this only
deals with nations, that God chose this nation but passed
over this other nation. Oh, no. You didn't read the earlier
verses. The lights were out when you
read those verses. It was within nations that God
chose one and passed over the other. Some people try to do
an end run on this and say, no, this means to be chosen for service. We're going to see here in a
little bit, he talks about vessels of wrath prepared for destruction. We're not talking about nursery
workers here. We're talking about the eternal
destinies of every human being who has ever lived. And so if
you're a true believer in Jesus Christ, you did choose to believe
in Him. But you believed in Him and you
chose to believe in Christ only because God first chose you to
believe in Him and sent the Holy Spirit to raise you from the
dead, to give you the gifts of repentance and faith, and to
draw you to Christ and to birth you into His kingdom. It's all of God. It's not God
and us. It's not us. It is God and God
alone. Six, it's a discriminating choice. In verses 17 and 18, we see that
God is free to pass over some lost sinners in order that He
might save other lost sinners, and it is all with an all-wise
purpose and design. In verse 17 we read, for the
Scripture says to Pharaoh, for this very purpose, I raised you
up to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be
proclaimed throughout the whole earth. You see, this choice to
pass over Pharaoh, it was not for no reason, but God had higher
purposes, greater purposes to harden his heart and then to
raise him up so that Pharaoh would be virtually a pawn in
the hand of God to turn his heart, to release the people of God
out of Egyptian bondage that they might make their way back
to the promised land. Proverbs 21 verse 1 says, the
heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord, and like rivers
of water, He channels it whichever way He will. This is God controlling
the hearts of even reprobates to carry out His eternal plan
and purpose here upon the earth. It was God who appointed Pharaoh
for this, and it was God who hardened his heart. God was not
the author of the evil that was in the heart of Pharaoh. That
evil was already there, and Pharaoh had already hardened his heart
against God. And once Pharaoh, with evil in
his heart, had hardened his heart against God, then God hardened
Pharaoh's heart to carry out His own predetermined purpose
and plan, to use him for His eternal purposes. It's a verse
18, so then He, God, has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens
whom He desires. This is the discriminating choice
that the sovereign God of heaven and earth makes, working in whose
hearts He chooses to work in. and hardening other hearts to
use them in a totally different way. He's got the whole world
in His hands. He has all of humanity in His
hands to do with them as it pleases Him. In verse 19 and 20, we see seventh,
it's an unaccountable choice. In other words, God is not accountable
to any of us for the choices that He makes. No man can call
God into account and demand an apology or demand an explanation. And so in verse 19, We read,
you will say to me then, and he anticipates now the second
imaginary objector. It is as though Paul is saying,
I know exactly what you're thinking, and I want to bring it out and
put it on the table so that I can answer it. This is what I know
that you are thinking. Why does he still find fault? For who can resist His will?
How can God hold any man responsible for His sins if He has been predetermined
for eternal destruction? And Paul answers in verse 20
with a strong, stinging rebuke. It says, on the contrary, who
are you, O man? O little man, O puny man, O dust
of the earth, O less than nothing, O little grasshopper, who are
you? Who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say
to the molder, Why did you make me like this? Such an objection
is arrogant, it is irreverent, it is foolish. God is not answerable
to our questions. In other words, Paul says, you
have crossed the line with God. God will not be subpoenaed and
brought into the courtroom of any little minds with our inferior
thinking and be put on the witness stand and God be cross-examined
by us so that we may… so that we may render a verdict on God's
choices, whether He is found acquitted or guilty in the courtroom
of our own mind. God is not on trial. Mankind
is on trial. God owes us no further explanation
than what He has given. God is God. And we need to remember
who we are and who God is. Salvation is of the Lord. And then in verse 22 and 23,
it's a glorifying choice. God exercises His sovereign will
to bring about His greatest glory. Verse 22, what if God, although
willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known,
endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? God is glorified. even in the
damnation of the reprobate. God's wrath is put on display
in the reprobate. God's power to damn is put on
display in the reprobate. God's patience to endure their
unbelief is put on display in the reprobate. Attributes of
God – wrath, power, patience are showcased in the reprobate
as God puts on display His attributes that bring glory to Himself.
And then in verse 23, and He did so to make known the riches
of His glory upon vessels of mercy which He prepared beforehand
for glory. God chooses to put on display
wrath, power, and patience in one, and in the other vessel,
the one whom He has chosen for salvation, God puts other attributes
on display in them. God magnifies His mercy and His
grace and His saving love. That's what is showcased in vessels
of mercy. But either way, God is glorified. Verse 23, which I just read,
if a human potter has the right over the dirty clay to fashion
objects as he chooses, then God certainly has the same right
with fallen, depraved humanity. God is the potter with sovereign
rights to make what He desires of man, who is but clay. He is but He is but dirt that is marred
and flawed and filthy. This is God's glorifying choice
as He puts His attributes on display, some on vessels of wrath
and others on vessels of mercy, that all rises up to magnify
His name. And finally, in verse 24 and
following, it's a worldwide choice. He says in verse 24, even us
whom He also called. That's the effectual sovereign
call of God out of the world, not only among Jews, which has
been His whole argument through this entire chapter beginning
in verse 1, but He adds now, but also from among Gentiles,
meaning the vast multitude of nations around the globe. God
has His elect in faraway lands in the four corners of the earth.
He has His elect among every tribe and every tongue and every
people and every nation. And He says in verse 25, I will
call those who are not My people, My people. And those who are not beloved,
beloved. And this is why we send out missionaries,
because God has His elect in all of the nations of the world,
and we go to preach the gospel, and we have a burden within our
heart and soul for their salvation. And we do not know who is elect
and who is not elect, so we preach the gospel to every living person.
We preach the gospel to the whole world. And as we go, it is with
the confidence that those whom the Father has chosen before
the foundation of the world, when the gospel is preached at
the appointed time, those who are dead in trespasses and sin
among the elect will be raised to life in Jesus Christ. It is
only by this we read the fulfillment of what Jesus said, I will build
My church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.
It is the absolute sovereignty of God that guarantees the success
of missions, and were it not for the doctrine of sovereign
election, all missions would be an abysmal failure. It is this truth that emboldens
us It gives us confidence. It puts a triumphant stride in
our faith. It sends us forth to the corners
of the earth knowing that God goes before us and that God has
already marked out hearts and that when we bring the gospel
to them, God will bring them to Jesus Christ all according
to His eternal plan and purpose. No, this is no hindrance to missions. This is high-octane fuel in our
tanks that drive us to the mission field to be a part of what God
is doing. As I close, I must say this,
as you find yourself here tonight without Christ, And with all
of this vast number of people, there will be many here tonight
who have never been born again, who have never come to saving
faith in Jesus Christ. And you may be saying to yourself,
how can I know if I'm elect? How can I know if I'm chosen
to believe? It's very simple. Believe upon
the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. And if you will
put your faith and your trust in Jesus Christ alone to save
you, you may know that you are numbered among the elect of God. You do not know, no one knows
until they've come to faith in Jesus Christ. And so I call you
tonight. I summon you tonight. I invite
you to come to faith in Jesus Christ. And I want to remind
you that your salvation does not lie in your hands. Your eternal
destiny is in the hands of God. And so come to God. Come to Christ. Humble yourself. Call out to
God. Say, God, have mercy upon me,
the sinner. And Jesus says, Him who comes
unto Me, I will in no wise cast out. Jesus says, Come unto Me,
all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you. Learn
of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find
rest for your souls. For My burden is easy, and My
yoke is light. The Savior is calling you this
very moment to step out of the world, to leave your sins behind,
and to come all the way to saving faith in Jesus Christ. If any
man thirsts, Jesus said, let him come unto Me and drink, and
out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water. Just come to Christ. Come to
faith in Jesus Christ this very moment, this very night. and
He loves to gather in lost sinners. He loves to put His mercy and
His grace upon those who humble themselves and lower themselves
and beg for His forgiveness. Come to Christ. Come to Him in
humility and with saving faith, and He will not send you away.
He will gladly bring you into His bosom and He will wash away
your sins. He will clothe you with His righteousness. He will adopt you into His family. He will put His Spirit within
you and He will walk with you, and He will lead you every step
of the way. And one day, when you come to
death's doorsteps, it will usher you immediately into the very
presence of God, where He has been preparing a place for you.
And He will receive you unto Himself, and He will take you
to the throne of grace, and He will introduce you to the Father,
And He will give you a crown and you will take that crown
and you will immediately cast it back at His feet because you
will realize in that moment then more than at any time that it
was He who chose you, it was He who predestined you, it was
He who called you to Himself. This crown does not belong on
my head. This crown must be cast back at His feet. May you believe
in Jesus Christ tonight. and be numbered among those who
have been washed in the blood of the Lamb. Let us pray. Father, give us understanding
of the truth of Your Word tonight, how Paul's heart was broken for
the lost, and how Your truth of sovereign election guaranteed
the success of his missionary journeys and the rest of his
life as he preached the gospel God, pour concrete and cement
into our very backbone and faith by this truth of Your supreme
authority over the eternal destinies of all mankind. Father, we pray
this to You in the name of the Son, recognizing that You are
the potter. In Jesus' name, amen.