All right, if you take your Bibles
and turn with me to Romans chapter nine. We have been studying in
Romans for quite some time in our congregation back at home. And what I'm attempting to do tonight
is give you the whole thing that it took three times to get it
to our congregation. So I'm gonna try to give it to
you. And if I get to the point where it's just too long, I'll
stop. It'll be plenty for you to eat, I promise. I promise
there's plenty to chew on here. In this text in Romans chapter
9, we have before us the three objections to God's sovereign
grace, of God's sovereign election that are laid out for us by the
apostle according to the Spirit of God. And these objections
have not changed. Throughout all of history, these
are always the objections. They may be disguised in different
language or they may be more flowery than they are, but these
are the root objections to the sovereignty of God listed in
this chapter. Now, our first objection is going
to be in verse six, where he says, not as though the word
of God had taken none effect. The first objection is going
to be, is God's word faithful? Is it true? The second objection
will be to God's electing grace in verse 14, when he says, what
shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? And then the third objection is going to be concerning God's
mercy on some and the actual hardening of others. The objection
to that one is found in verse 19. He said, What shall we say
then? Why did he yet find fault for who hath resisted his will? These three objections. Now,
With regard to this first objection concerning the faithfulness of
God's Word, I want to give us a little bit of background again.
Remember, the Apostle Paul just had stated in chapter 8, the
highest point of salvation is this, God justified us. And if that was not sufficient,
there's no condemnation because Christ died. He rose again, is
seated at the right hand of God, and is perpetually making intercession
for us. The four pillars of our justification,
His death, His resurrection, His being seated on the right
hand of God, and His constant intercession. You are fourfold
justified, you that believe. What's the conclusion? He says,
no one is able to separate us from the love of God that's in
Christ Jesus. Nothing, height, nor depth, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor life,
nor death. Listen, in case he missed something,
or any other creature. He may not have known all the
creatures yet, but he said, none of them shall separate you from
the love of God. And so in chapter nine, the apostle begins by expressing
his love to his brethren, the Jews. And he was expressing his
love that they might be saved. And I preached on that was what
a lesson of love that we should have for the lost. What a message
of love that we should have for the lost. Paul said, I could
wish myself accursed for my kinsmen. If that would save them, I would
do it. And he said, the Holy Spirit
bear him witness. This wasn't just, you know, saying this for,
you know, it's not a platitude. But then comes the question that
Paul knew was coming. If salvation is forever, If God's
covenant and Christ's justification and nothing can separate you
from the love of God that's in Christ Jesus, Paul, then how
can you say the Jews are lost? How is it possible that God promised
to save the Jews and yet now they have rejected the Messiah? How can you answer that? Well, the apostle does answer
that. But I want you to listen to this, because these are promises
that God gave to Israel. In Isaiah chapter 45 and verse
17, God says, but Israel shall be saved in the Lord. Listen
to these words, with an everlasting salvation. Well, Paul, how can
that be true and the Jews be lost? This is the objection. God said
in Jeremiah, he said, when the day and night stop listening
to me, that's when I'm going to cast them off as a people. He said, that's when I'll cast
off the seed of Jacob and David, my servant. That's the time. So look at Paul's answer, he
says, is the word of God of none effect? He says, no, no. The word of God, not as though
the word of God is none effect. Now, why? Look at here's his
answer. For they are not all Israel,
which are of Israel. What's Paul's answer? There are
two Israels. One national and one spiritual. He said, neither because they're
the seed of Abraham are they all children, but in Isaac shall
thy seed be called. Now, the nation of Israel, this
is no real complicated answer. God's Word is faithful. What does His Word say? Let God
be true and every man a liar. Anyone that opposes this Word
is a liar. And so they get this and they
say, aha, I got him now. God promised to save Israel,
but you just said they were lost. You said salvation is forever,
but they cast off Christ. Well, that's because I'm not
talking about the physical Israel. God's not speaking about physical
Israel. He is speaking about spiritual Israel. Now, the physical
Israel, they were like everything else in the Old Testament dispensation. They were a type. The whole nation
was a type and a picture, just like the tabernacle. Everything
in the tabernacle. None of that took away sin. You
can read Hebrews and tell, not all the blood of bulls and goats
from the time it started, from the time Abel offered his first
sacrifice until Christ came. None of that blood removed sin. Why was it necessary for them
to do it? It pictured Christ. That's why
it was necessary. The high priest pictured Christ.
The tabernacle pictured Christ. The Ark of the Covenant pictured
Christ. The Passover lamb pictured Christ. The scapegoat and the sin offering
pictured Christ. Everything pictured Christ. Well,
you know what Jerusalem pictured? Israel. They pictured the spiritual
Israel. And so what he's saying is this
is the scripture says, not all they that are of the seed of
Abraham are children. Some of them were. But just because they
were national, Israel did not guarantee their salvation. They were just a type. And so Paul then begins to Describe
who this Israel is Who they are and He says this in Isaac shall
thy seed be called that is I like that he explains it He say gives
you the answer and he goes. Well, let me go even further
and explain that is They which are children of the flesh. These
are not the children of God, but who are The children of promise
are counted for the seed Children of promise. And then he gives
the illustration of Isaac. Isaac was an illustration, a
picture of the real Israel of God. They are spiritual. Now,
Abraham had two sons, and I'll tell you this, he had more sons
later on. But the two sons in this picture
are who? Isaac and Ishmael. Ishmael was a son of the flesh.
He was a son of nature. He was not the son of promise.
Remember, God promised Abraham and Sarah a son. And when they
had Ishmael, God said, that's not him. That's not him. And then at the appointed time,
God gave them Isaac. And so Isaac is a picture, he's
a son of promise. Well, so are the elect of God.
Their children promise. Before they were born, they were
chosen. That's what he's saying. Isaac
was chosen when? Was he chosen after he was born? No, he was chosen before he was
born. Why? Because that's a picture of who
spiritual Israel are. They are the ones chosen of God
before their birth. And some will dispute this and
they will say, well, they had two different mothers. So that's
made the difference. It really wasn't. Well, then
he goes further, saying that Isaac is the son of promise.
Look what he says. And not only this. Wow, there's
more. There's more. He said, but when
Rebecca had conceived by one, even our father Isaac. For the
children being not yet born, neither having done any good
or evil. That the purpose of God, according
to election, might stand not of works, but of him that calleth. Here we have two children. born of Isaac in the same womb
of the same mother at the same time. You see, you don't have
that other excuse that you had with two mothers. You got one
mother, one father, same womb, same time. And God did this for a very specific
purpose, that he might show us the true election of true Israel. Israel was an elect people, but
not all of them were saved. They were just a picture. And
so is it is with the true elect of God. We are given this in
a picture and God did this. He said that the purpose of God,
according to election, might stand not of works. That this election is not based
on works. It was said to her, the elder
shall serve the younger, as it is written, Jacob have I loved,
but Esau have I hated. Here, the word of God declares
plainly that the purpose of God, according to election, is the
root of all salvation. Without this, there is no salvation. Election is rooted in the sovereign
will of almighty God without works. And it is proven by these two,
Jacob and Esau. God said before their birth,
I have loved Jacob and I have aided Esau. Therefore, God, before the creation
of the world, before time began, has chosen Israel, chosen His
elect people. God chose some of Adam's race,
loved them with an immutable love, and in love, God purposed
to save them. He promised to save them, those
who were chosen of His free grace. And so when God said that, I
don't know, it's gotta be a long time ago, 2,700 years ago, when
he told Isaiah, I will save Israel, he was talking about me. Is that
not astounding? I wasn't born. I had no clue. And when I came into this world,
I had even less of a clue. It was no different than anyone
else. Yet I know my salvation is rooted
in the sovereign will of God. And so that the word of God is
very effectual in His promises to save spiritual Israel. And
we know this because He gave them to Christ, everyone the
Father chose. This is our hope, isn't it? That
He gave us to Jesus Christ to be our surety. that Christ was to come and save
Israel. Go to Isaiah chapter 53. This is the word of God concerning
salvation, that God was going to save Israel, His people. Isaiah
53, He said in verse 8, this is obviously speaking of Christ,
He was taken from prison and from judgment, who shall declare
his generation? For he was cut off from the land
of the living. Why? Why was he to be cut off
from the land of the living? For the transgression of my people
was he stricken. And he hath made his grave with
the wicked and the rich in his death, because he hath done no
violence, neither was there deceit in his mouth, yet it pleased
the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief, when
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin." Listen, he shall see
who? His seed. When Christ lived in this world,
his seed lived in him. That's what a representative
did. My righteousness is totally made by Jesus obedience. Absolutely
with no help from me. And then my savior offered himself
to God and God was pleased with his offering. So when he died,
I died. And the pleasure of the Lord
shall prosper in his hand, and he shall see of the travail of
his soul and shall be satisfied. I'm so thankful for that, aren't
you? All of the elect, all of their
sins were made to meet on Jesus Christ of Calvary. And God poured
out all his justice against our sins. And he said, I'm satisfied. And he says this, and he shall
be satisfied by his knowledge, shall my righteous servants justify
who? Many. Many. For he shall bear, listen,
their iniquities. So he said, for my people was
he stricken. When he was stricken, he saw
who? His people, his seed. Who's going to understand this? Who's going to know? He said,
by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many. Who? My people. And he shall
bear who? Their iniquities. Only theirs.
Only their iniquity. And so is the word of God somehow
void because the Jews weren't saved? Absolutely not. Why? Because the Jews were only
a picture. God said, I'm going to save Israel. And Israel is who? It is the
elect of God and we are saved. Now election is always unto salvation,
but who did the saving? It was Christ. It was our Savior
who did the saving. God purposed our salvation, put
us in Christ, and it was Christ who actually accomplished that
salvation. He finished it. He finished it. I like what the apostle says
in Hebrews 9. He says that when he entered
into heaven once, he entered into the holy place once, now
listen to this, Having obtained. Is this eternal? Redemption. For us. For us. This is this is God's
salvation, it's rooted in election. And all those other priests,
they did that over and over, and he said, but this man after
he'd offered one sacrifice for sin, what'd he do? He sat down. He sat down, listen to these
words, forever. He sat down forever. It's done.
The work of salvation, listen, for the elect is done. It's accomplished. It was decreed
of God from eternity and accomplished by Jesus Christ. Without a doubt,
Jesus Christ was victorious. A false religion would have you
to believe that Christ died for all men, that God loves all men,
that Christ paid for all the sins of all men. There's a problem
with that. You know what it is? It's not
in the Word of God. That's a big problem. Men, take that understanding. And they bring it to the word
of God. And they try to figure out how you can make God's word
fit it. Instead, you should just come
to the word of God, as it says. Christ died and justified many,
his people, that's what he said. And the proof of his perfection
was what? His resurrection, His resurrection. God raised Him
from the dead. And so we see in our text that
the whole of God's salvation was purposed and decreed by love
and grace from eternity, and this salvation being accomplished
by Christ. And only the elect will ever
experience this salvation. Why? because Christ only died
for Israel. He only died for Israel. Why? They were his elect. And listen,
this was without merits or their will or their works. This was
all by the will of God, by the will of God. Now, election is not difficult
to understand. I've used this many times because
I think it's very simple. A lady asked Brother Barnard
what, you know, she knew a difference between her religion and his
was election. He said, but I don't understand
it. He just said simply, were you saved on accident or on purpose? That just describes it, doesn't
it? We who are the elect were saved on purpose. Not ours, God's
purpose. That the purpose of God, the
purpose of God according to election might stand. It was said to her
before they had done any good or evil, Jacob have I loved,
but Esau have I hated. Now I'll tell you this, our Lord
mentioned election many times. Go to John chapter 10, look at
this. So again, who are the elect of
God? Who are the Israel of God? Because
those are the ones that are going to be saved. And he's describing
it. They're the Jacobs. Christ in this verse calls them
sheep. Look at verse 11. I am the good shepherd. The good
shepherd giveth his life for who? The sheep. Any goats? The sheep. Look at verse 14,
I am the good shepherd and know my sheep and am known of mine. But verse 16, other sheep I have. It's talking about us now. He
jumped ahead. Other sheep I have, which are
not of this fold and not of the Jews, That's us. Them I also, listen, must bring. Isn't that, that's a good word,
isn't it? When Christ must do something,
is it gonna get done? He never is ambiguous about this.
He's never vague in his necessity. He said, I must needs go through
Samaria. There was a woman he must meet at the well at a certain
time. And he said, I must needs go through there. You know what
he did? He went there. People murmur about this matter
of election. They just do. There's no doubt about it. When
anyone preaches the sovereign election of God, not according
to works, People are going to murmur. They start murmuring
in this text. Here, look at what Jesus said
to them. They said, Tell us plainly if you're the Christ, verse 25.
He said, I told you. But you didn't believe, you believe
not. The works I do in my Father's name they bear witness to me.
Don't you think He did enough works for them to, I mean, evidence,
you want some evidence? Nobody. His own enemy said, never
a man spake like this man. They couldn't deny his works,
his miracles. But listen to this. Now, this
is why Jesus is getting to the root as to why they don't believe.
Listen to this. Jesus, verse 26. But you believe
not. Why? Because you are not my sheep. Religion wants it reversed. They
want to say you are not my sheep because you don't believe. It's
not what he said. You believe not because you are
not of my sheep. Why do they not believe? Because
they're Esau. They're Esau. He said, my sheep hear my voice.
and I know them. You that believe, is it not astounding
that He knew you, that He knew everything about
you? He knew what kind of vile sinner
you would be born, and still set His love on you, knowing
there was nothing you could give him to earn it. He knew that. And I give unto
them. Listen, who? Them. I give to
them eternal life. And listen, they shall never
perish. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. For my father which gave me them
is greater than all. And no man is able to pluck them
out of my father's hand. Very specific. So Christ came only to die for
who? Israel, his people. Well, what about the others,
preacher? What happens to the Esau's? God says before they
were born, he hated them. Before they had done any good
or evil, God set his hatred on them. These men are like the fallen
angels. No one seems to worry about the fallen angels or care
about them, but that's just so. There was a time that God sustained
them before they fell. But listen, they were always
ordained to this condemnation, even so it is with those that
God hates. I'm going to give you this, and
there's a ton of other scriptures, Believe me, I ain't gonna have
time, I know, but Jude says this, Jude in verse four, he says,
there were certain men crept in of wares who were before of
old, listen, ordained under this condemnation. What type of men
were they? Were they good men ordained to
condemnation? No, ungodly men, ungodly men. And so what is the manifestation
of God's eternal love? How may one know? Whether we
are the loved or the hated. Because in birth, there is no
distinction. You can't tell. We're all born. Could you tell the difference
between Jacob and Esau really in their actions? I mean, his
name was supplanter, was trickster. His name was named after a wicked
deed. They both were evil men. But the manifestation of God's
eternal love is this, their salvation. The regeneration of their heart
and the giving of faith to believe in Jesus Christ. He said, my
sheep know my, they follow me. I know them, I give my life for
them, but I know this, they will follow me. Why? They hear my
voice. It's a distinction. Do you believe
on the son of God? Then you, my friend, were loved. It's the evidence of God's love.
He gives them faith. Now, listen, I don't know who
the elect of God are and who those are hated. I don't. God
said, don't even guess, you'll pull up the wrong ones. You'll
get the wrong ones. How many times we got it wrong?
How many times do you see people come in, set on fire for the
Lord, you think, oh man, I wish it could be like that. And the
next thing you know, they're gone. Where are they? Where are
the masses that used to worship with you? When God gives faith, friends,
that faith never ends, it never ceases. But the mark of God's hatred
is simply this, those that will not believe. They will not believe. In this is manifest the hatred
of God toward them. And truly, this is not against
the nature of man to not believe. When men come into the world,
the scripture says the carnal mind is enmity. against God. It's just naturally
so. It is not subject to the law
of God. Listen, neither indeed can be. It never will. Man by nature
is dead in sins, loves his sins, and will never forsake his self-righteousness. Our Lord said of the natural
man, he said, no man can come unto me. And so the truest mark then is
what? Unbelief. How would one know if they are
hated of God? Listen, if they continue in unbelief,
that's the only way you're really going to know if a man continues. Now, man may not be believing
today, but then tomorrow he may believe that. I don't know. The
Lord knows his. I don't. That's not for us to
choose. And so when he calls a sinner
to believe one of his sons of his elect, they will believe. Now, what is the second objection
here? Look at this back in your text.
Go back to your text. The second objection here. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? Now, what would bring on such an objection? Why would
anyone dare accuse God of being unrighteous? Listen, this is
the verse that causes the objection. For Jacob have I loved, but Esau
have I hated. What then is the objection to
this? Well, is God unrighteous to do
that? Now, his love for Jacob and his
hatred for Esau was not based on any good or evil that was
done by them. They were in the womb, incapable
of doing anything. Yet God, willing to display and
manifest the true nature of His salvation, which is the election
of grace, said, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Now, it's
here that men will seek to rest the scripture and try to remedy
this or fix that statement. It's very offensive. This statement
is very offensive to the natural man. And so what men do is they
hear that and they say, well, that just can't be right. And so they rest the scriptures,
they twist them to make it fit their theology or whatever they
thought or whatever their mama told them or whatever their daddy
told them. And so they say this, well, Jacob
have I loved, but Esau have I hated less or loved less, loved less. He didn't hate him, he just loved
him less. If you can do that, can you not
do this? For Jacob have I hated less and
Esau have I loved less. How does that fix the problem?
Why would God hate, love Esau less? Can you give me a reason why
he said before they were born, before they had done any good
or evil, can you see any reason why he would hate Esau less? See, you don't solve the problem,
you just exacerbate it. And listen, when they say things
like that, nobody's offended. You got that? There is no objection
to God's righteousness then, if they say it that way. Now,
others will take this and they'll say, well, he didn't mean individuals,
he meant nations. I scratched my head. How does
expanding it make it any more palatable? Aren't nations made
up of millions and millions of people? So you're saying that
God loved millions and millions of people and God hated millions
and millions of people before they were born, having done good
or evil. How does that solve the problem or lessen the objection? It doesn't. But the objection,
is only made if you take the word as it stands. That's the
only reason for this objection, that God loved Jacob without
any merit in Jacob. And listen to this, God hated
Esau without any merit in Esau. And so Paul says, is there unrighteousness
with God? God forbid. Men say that ain't fair, that
ain't right. I got a quote in here, I don't
want to read the whole thing from Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson said
a sovereign God is a monster. Thomas Jefferson wrote that in
a letter to John Adams, called God a monster. John Wesley said,
it's blasphemy. You know, one thing that all
religions agree on, all false religions agree on, is their
hatred toward the sovereign election of God. Now, they disagree on
everything else, but they'll come together in hatred of this.
They'll call God a monster to love one and to hate the other
before they were born. But notice how Paul answers,
and if you have these objections come to you, this is how you
should answer. Thus sayeth the Lord. Thus sayeth the Lord. Look at your text again. Verse
15. He sayeth to Moses, I will have
mercy. Oh, good. Oh, that's so wonderful,
isn't it? I will have mercy. I don't think
any religion denies that he's going to have mercy. On who? On whom I will have mercy. I'll have compassion. That's
good. On who? God said on whom I'll
have compassion. The reason many object to the
sovereign election of God is listen, because they still think
they have something to offer. Why do men hate the sovereign
election of God? Because they believe that salvation
has to be earned in some measure. God is specifically telling us,
us who are saved by grace through faith in Christ, us who have
the fourfold justification of God through Jesus Christ, us
who can never be separated. Here's the reason why. God chose
you and loved you without any merit from you. Yet men still desire to try to
obligate God as though they have a right to mercy. Do you realize
once you tell me that you have a right to mercy, you lose the
very meaning of the word mercy? If you believe you have a right
to mercy, it's no longer mercy, is it? It's justice. You're demanding
justice. If Christ did all the work of
salvation and left one thing for you to do, then it's not
mercy you're asking for. It's justice. But God doesn't. He said, I'll
have mercy on who on whom I will have mercy. You know, one thing that all
God's elect understand is their need of mercy. When God reveals our sin, that's
the first thing we learn is we have nothing to offer God. Nothing. Every imagination of the thought
of my heart is only evil continually. And if salvation is dependent
upon anything I do, I would be lost. But you know who God has mercy
on? Those who need mercy. One thing that those that God
hates will never understand is their need of mercy. But everyone
God will save, it's the first thing they know they need. Mercy. And look at this conclusion,
so then, It is not of him that willeth or him that runneth,
but God that showeth mercy. The ETHs on this are very important.
I like that. Not of him that willeth. It's
past. It's a present perfect tense. It's past, present, and future.
Not of Him that willed in the past, not of Him that is willing
right now, and not of Him that's going to will in the future.
Not of Him that ran in the past, not of Him that's running right
now, not of Him that's going to run in the future. But God
that showeth mercy, showeth past mercy, present mercy, eternal
mercy. The elect know one thing, that
mercy is of God. It's completely and absolutely
of the sovereign will of God. It's God that shows mercy. My son was having trouble with
this, some of this the other day. And he was asking questions
concerning how would a person know if he had True faith. True faith simply comes to Christ
with nothing. Nothing. Empty. And I said, I don't know of one
instance in Scripture that you can ever find Christ, someone
coming to Him for mercy that didn't find Him. They didn't
always find it at the time they thought they should get it or
the time they wanted it. Remember the woman, the Canaanite
woman begging Him? And He sent her away three different
times. You think He was ever going to deny her mercy? He intended
to give her mercy before she knew she needed mercy. And so
anyone that comes to Christ for mercy, that's the one God will
have mercy on. That's the one God will have
mercy on. I think of that in 2 Kings 7,
an illustration there. Remember, there's four lepers
sitting outside the gate, and everybody's starving to death,
big famine. The Syrians encompassed about the whole city, and there
was no food getting in. They were selling horses' heads.
They were so hungry. There were four lepers outside.
Now, God, by His prophet, promised the very next day, there would
be so much food, you could buy a ton of it for a penny. Now,
these four lepers didn't hear anything like that. They didn't
know anything about that. They're sitting there dying.
And so they got together and they said, you know what? If
we four lepers go inside that city, one of two things are going
to happen. We're going to get stoned to
death because that's against the law, or we're just going
to starve to death like everybody else in there. Now listen, we
could stay right here, but if we stay right here, guess what?
We're going to starve to death. Now we know there's food over
there. But those people said they're going to kill us. We'll go and beg for mercy. You know what a sinner does? He says,
I'm starving to death. And I can't go to God by the
law. The law will kill me. I'm a leopard. If I stay in this
condition, I'll die. I know God said he's gonna punish
sin, but I'll tell you this, I'll go and ask for mercy. You know what they found? They found
the camp empty of all enemies and food abundantly. What'd you find, believer, when
you came to Christ for mercy? You didn't find an enemy. You
found abundant mercy. That's what you found. So what
do you tell the other lepers? There's mercy there. There's
mercy there. You know who goes? Only those
that need mercy. In that same instance, you remember
that king who heard the word of the prophet. King, he did
not and would not believe. That's an illustration of anyone
who is hated of God. They'll never believe, never
believe, and they'll never taste of God's mercy, though it's right
outside. The food was right outside the
door. And because he would not believe,
listen, he would not eat it. That's one hated of God. I don't have time. I'm just gonna
go real quickly through this. But what about those that God
hates? Look at verse 17. What about their unbelief? Is
that outside the will of God, their unbelief? No, he said,
for the scripture has said, Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have
I raised thee up that I might show my power in thee, that my
name might be declared throughout all the earth. What was the whole
reason of Pharaoh's life? God used that man to display
the glory of his power in raising him up and killing him. Therefore, he hath mercy on whom
he will have mercy. Now, who is he going to have
mercy on? I know Israel. Who are they? I don't know. Whomever
he will. Whomever He will. What's the
evidence of mercy? It's faith. You believe, that's
the evidence of mercy. And whom He will, listen, He
hardeneth. And I want you to get this. Ten
times, it says in Scripture, God hardened Pharaoh's heart.
I want you to understand this. When God hardens a sinner, it's
not just giving him permission. It is God actively hardening
a man's heart. He uses different means to do
that. Providence. That hardens men's hearts, doesn't
it? They're going this way and God interrupts their scheme and
they're hardened. It's what happened to Pharaoh.
I said, let my people go and it's hardened his heart. All
of those 10 plagues did not move him to believe. It moved him
in hardness and God used that. But listen to me. I want you
to understand this. God hardened his heart. I must give you these illustrations.
You can go and read them later. In 2 Chronicles 18-21, you remember
Ahab? The Lord said, I will send a
lying spirit to his prophets. God said that. That his prophets
should be deceived. In Ezekiel 14 and verse 9, God said, if a false prophet
is deceived, I've done it. Is that not astounding? Our Lord Jesus, speaking of Judas,
he says, it was ordained that he should betray the Son of Man.
And then he said, he's responsible. God ordained that he should do
it. Used Satan to whisper in his ear to do it. And then God
says he's to blame for it. In Acts chapter two, remember,
it is the determinant counsel and foreknowledge of God that
they by wicked hands crucify and slay. Remember, they didn't
want to crucify him on Passover. And God said, I beg your pardon,
you will crucify him on Passover. Whose will was it that he was
crucified? Was it their will? It was God's will. Acts chapter 4 he said the Gentiles
Pontius Pilate did whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined
before to be done There are many other scriptures I can give you
but I want you to know this that wicked men don't do things on
their own They do what God has decreed them to do and you pay
attention They are absolutely responsible for it Now, can you reconcile that? I don't have to. Paul says God's judgments are
past finding out. There's a point where our human
wisdom and logic, you need to let that garbage go. God can harden a man's heart.
decree him to do those evil things, and yet God is not charged with
sin. They are. That's what prompted that last
one. Look at this. That's the last objection here.
He says in verse 19, what shall we say then? If God has mercy
on who he will, and then he hardens the other person, listen, why
then does he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
Judas was willed to betray Christ. How then can he find fault with
Judas? These evil prophets were made, given a lying spirit and
made to be deceived. How then could he find fault
with him? Pharaoh's heart was hardened
against God's word. How then could God find fault
with him? There's a threefold answer here,
but I'm gonna give you one of it. Who do you think you are? That's his first response. Because you cannot understand
that God is free from being charged with sin, that man is responsible,
God ordains it, yet man is responsible. Can't figure that out. But who
are you to take God's judgment and put it under your judgment? So is the word of God void concerning
Israel? No. God promised to save Israel. Who is He going to save? Israel. Matter of fact, Christ's already
done it. The Spirit will call them without a doubt. Why? Because of election. Because
God loved them. God had mercy on them. God showed
favor to them, not according to their works. But according
to his eternal purpose and grace, he showed mercy to them. Why
it is written that settles it, Jacob, have I loved, but he saw
that is there unrighteousness, God unfair, do that. No, by no means. God already
told you, I'm going to have mercy on whom I have mercy. Who's that
on who he wants to have mercy? I don't care who it is. When God determines that mercy,
he will have mercy. And listen, when God determines
to not have mercy, He won't. Matter of fact, those that are
hated, He'll harden their hearts until the day they die, and they'll
die in their sins. And listen, is God just? You
bet. Is God charged with their sin?
No! Can you understand that? Absolutely
not. But who am I? His judgments are
past finding out. I do pray that God would, one
thing about the doctrine of election, it would never, it should never
gender pride, ever. What's the difference between
you and Esau? Why would God love you? I see
the elect can understand why he would hate Esau. I can understand
that. How he could love Jacob. It's a mystery only eternity
in heaven will unfold. I pray that we would glorify
his name. for his great mercy and love
wherewith he loved us. I pray God will bless this day.