Thank you, Matthew. Good morning. I hope everyone rested well.
I know for some of you it was a short night. I hope you slept
fast. Glad to see you back this morning. I was thinking this morning that
the Lord referred to His church as a house of prayer. And the
prayer that I hope the Lord will put on our hearts this morning
is twofold. And it was a prayer that was
prayed by the Apostle Peter when he was with the other disciples
on the boat there on the Sea of Galilee. And he saw the Lord,
and his first prayer was, Lord, bid me to come unto thee. That word bid means to cause,
drag me. Lord, would you cause me to be
able to come into thy presence? And the second prayer that Peter
prayed was when he looked at his circumstances and he cried,
Lord, save me. He prayed both those prayers,
and both those prayers our Lord answered. God's pleased to put
those prayers in our hearts this morning. Lord, would you cause
me to come unto thee? And would you save me? We'll
worship this morning, if the Lord enables us to offer those
up. Tom's going to come and lead
us in the hymn in your hardbacked hymn number 37, How Great Thou
Art. And after we sing that hymn,
Dennis Fitzton from Charlotte is going to come and read scripture
and lead us in prayer. And then we'll sing another hymn.
So let's stand together, number 37. I love that hymn so much, how
great our God really is. Oh great, he is. Turn with me
to Exodus chapter 33 in your Bibles this morning. Exodus chapter
33. We'll begin reading at verse
12. And Moses said unto the Lord,
See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people, and thou hast
not let me know whom thou wilt send with me, yet thou, yet thou,
but God. Yet thou hast said, I know thee
by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. I pray that
he would find grace in our sight, that we would find grace in his
sight this morning, and he send his spirit this morning. Now
therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, show
me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may found grace
in thy sight, and consider that this nation is thy people. And
he said, my presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee
rest. As our brothers come to speak
this morning, our prayer should be that the Lord's presence would
go with them, that he would give them rest as they preach the
gospel to us, and that through their preaching, the Spirit of
God would give us rest. Verse 15. And he said unto him,
if thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. For wherein
shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in
thy sight? Is it not in that thou goest
with us? So shall we be separated, I and
thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the
earth. And the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing also
that thou hast spoken. For thou hast found grace in
my sight, and I know thee by name. And he said, I beseech
thee, show me thy glory. Is that your prayer this morning?
Lord, show me your glory. Show me your glory by the preaching
of the gospel. Show me your glory. Send your
spirit. Speak to me effectually. Speak to our young children.
This gospel isn't just for old people. It's for young people.
It's for young people. Lord, show me thy glory. And
he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will
proclaim the name of the Lord before thee. and will be gracious
to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will
show mercy. Let's bow before the Lord. Our gracious Heavenly Father,
we thank you for this place you've given us to meet around your
living Holy Word. Lord, we pray now for the the
brothers that are going to come and speak for us, Lord, that
you would speak through them, that you would send your presence
with them, Lord, that you would enable them to preach the gospel
with simplicity, with clarity, without apology, with boldness,
Lord, that you would speak to us, Lord, that you would send
your spirit and speak to us effectually and call us by your sweet, irresistible
grace, Lord. We pray for all those here, Lord,
that know thee by name. and that you know by name, Lord.
And we pray for those who are yet without Christ, that you
would call them and show them their need for Christ. Lord,
we pray all this in Christ's name and for his sake. Amen. Dear refuge of my weary soul,
On thee when sorrows rise, On thee when waves of trouble I'm
fainting, O rise! To thee I tell thee, A low and gloomy doubts prevail,
I fear to call thee mine. A springs of comfort seek to
fill, and all my hopes decline. Gracious God, where shall I clean
Thou art, my only trust? And still my soul would cling
to Thee, or prostrate in the dust. Hast Thou not bid me seek Thy
face, will I complain? No, still the
air ? Thy mercy seat is open still
? ? Here let my soul retreat ? ? With humble hope attend thy
will ? ? And wait beneath thy feet ? ? Thy mercy seat is open
still ? ? Here let my soul retreat ? Thank you, Matthew. I guess you can tell the importance
of a man by the size of the entourage that follows him. Our next preacher requires no introduction because
half of you are from his church. Almost 19 years ago, the Lord
blessed me, enabling me to hear the gospel from this brother
for the first time. I'm so thankful for you. You've
been so dear to me. You're dear to this church. We
love you. Thank you, Lynn, for coming. Todd, you come preach
to us. One of the most intimidating
things about preaching is preaching to people who hear you all the
time. You think they get sick of you, and indeed they do, but
I guess the folks that are here from Lexington are some of the
people that don't get sick, so I'm thankful for that. Turn with me to Romans chapter
9. I'm so happy being with you and
love you all so dearly and just thankful to be here. Love your
pastor. What a dear friend. I was thinking what you said
about those two prayers. Bid me come to thee. And do you know anybody who has
ever truly prayed that prayer, the Lord did cause them to come
to Him. It's never been turned down. And anyone who's ever prayed,
Lord, save me. He saved. Never one person. Somebody says, well, I've prayed
that prayer. No, you haven't. No, you haven't, because if you
had, He'd save you. You might have prayed and tried
to bargain with Him. Lord, I'll do this if you do
that. But no, He won't answer that prayer, I'll assure you.
But anyone who prays, Lord, save me. Oh, would to God that everybody
in this room will say, bid me come to Thee. And Lord, save
me. I've entitled the message I'd
like to attempt to bring this morning, God Being God. If I would give the summary of
Romans chapter 9, I think that I would just say that's a summary
of Romans chapter 9. It's God Being God. In verse 11, 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. That is God being God. It was
said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger. As it's written,
Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. That's God being
God. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses,
I'll have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. That's God being God. So then it's not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. That's God being God. For the scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I
might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared
throughout all the earth. That's God being God. Therefore
hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will,
he hardeneth. That is God being God. Thou wilt say unto me, Why does
he yet find fault? For who has resisted his will?
If he has mercy on whom he will has mercy, and if he hardens
whom he will, and I might be one of those people he hardens,
how can he hold me responsible for my actions? That's not fair. I love Paul's answer. Nay, but, O man, who are you
to reply against God? This is God being God. You have
no right to reply. God is God. Shall the thing form,
say to him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? Hath
not the potter power over the clay of the same lump to make
one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor? That's God being
God. That's who He is. What if God? I want to pause
there. What if God? Abraham said, shall not the judge
of the earth do right? Yes, he will. And he doesn't do it
because it's right. It's right for this one singular
reason. He does it. it's right. Such is the supremacy, the transcendence
of God that whatever he does is right simply because he did
it. Can you say amen in your heart
to that? Can you bow to that? Now any objections we have toward
him are a display of self-ignorance and irreverence. You see, the
manifestation of His glory is the highest end of God in all
things. Why did He create the universe?
For His glory. Why does He control everything
that happens in providence? Providence is the unfolding of
what He decreed in eternity. Everything that happens in time,
He's in complete control of. And it's not hard for Him. Why? For His glory. Why does He save? For His glory. God does what He does for His
glory. Now what if God What if verse
18 really is true? That He has mercy on whom He
will have mercy, and whom He will, He hardens. Everybody deep
down knows that's true. Even if you object to it, deep
down you know that's true. This is who God is. And all He's
got to do to harden your heart is nothing. That's it. and your heart will become as
hard, my heart will become as hard as a millstone. What if God really is like that? You know, will mere you disagreeing or
finding fault with God change the facts of His isness? He is who He is. Whether you
and I agree with this or not, our thoughts regarding the living
God do not change who He is. He said, I am that I am. I love that name of our Lord.
Not I was or will be or would be or could be or want to be.
I am that I am. What if God is like this? What
if He really does of the same lump make one vessel unto honor
and another unto dishonor? What if He does things like that? What if God, verse 22, says,
willing to show His wrath? Now there is such a thing as
the wrath of God. We read in Romans 118 that the
wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness
of men who hold down the truth in unrighteousness. This is a
horrible thing to think about, the wrath of God, but it's a
good thing to think about too. It is who He is. You know why
men are afraid to die? Because of sin. And what is the
wrath of God? God's wrath is His wrath against
sin. His wrath isn't like our wrath.
When we get mad, it's because we feel like it's sinful. Our sinful outbursts and outrages
and so on. There's nothing good about them.
But God's wrath has to do with His holy, righteous character. He must punish sin. That is who He is. The wrath of God is the punishment
of the wicked, and the punishment of the wicked is not an arbitrary
act of God having no object but to make men miserable. It's designed
to demonstrate the divine displeasure against sin. There is such a
thing as the wrath of God. What would the love of God, what
would the mercy of God, what would the grace of God, what
would salvation, what would the forgiveness of sins even mean
if there were no wrath of God? Those would be meaningless concepts. Now there is such a thing as
the wrath of God and there's a place called hell. I would want to speak of hell
with a tear in my eye. That's the way I'd want to speak
of it. I can't stand to hear a hellfire
and brimstone preacher trying to scare people. That's not what
this is about. But there is a place called hell
because God is a God of wrath, justice, judgment against sin. And the greatest demonstration
of the wrath of God is the cross. Christ Jesus on the cross, now
listen to me real carefully, it was more than my sins being
charged to His account. Because if that's all it was,
it wouldn't even be unjust, it wouldn't be just. My sin was
not simply charged to His account, my sin became His sin. I don't even know what all that
means when I say something like that, but my sin became His sin
and God saw me in him, and God poured His wrath upon him." Because
God is just. God is not going to let sin go
unpunished. That is who He is. He's willing to show His wrath. and to make his power known,
the scripture says. I think of God's power. Oh, the
power he demonstrated in creation when he willed this universe
into existence, simply willing it, and there it is. His power
displayed in providence where he controls everything. Do you
know right now he's controlling the thoughts that are going through
your mind? Everything you're thinking, he's in absolute control
of. I love that. He is in control of the free,
uncoerced actions of men. Oh, how His mighty power is seen
in providence. How His mighty power is seen
in salvation. When I stand before Thy throne,
dressed in beauty not my own, When I see thee as thou art,
love thee with unsinning heart, then, Lord, shall I fully know. Not till then. how much I owe,
and I'll tell you this, His power will be magnified and displayed
when somebody as sinful and weak and contradictory as me is made
just like the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, how His mighty power will
be made known. What if God, willing to show
His wrath and to make His power known, now look at this next
statement, endured with much long-suffering, the vessels of
wrath fitted to destruction." Literally, having already been
fitted to destruction. These vessels of wrath. And this is God's Word, not mine. This is God's Word, and I make
no apology for it. God's God. This is God being God. Jude speaks of ungodly men who
were before of old ordained to this condemnation. First Peter
2.8 speaks of those who stumble at the word, being disobedient
whereunto also they were appointed. The Lord hath made all things
for himself, yea, even the wicked, for the day of evil. Vessels of wrath. Now listen
real carefully. A man does not go to hell because
God arbitrarily appointed him to hell. A man goes to hell because
of his sins. And this was ordained for that
man by God before time began. Do I understand that? No. Do I believe it? With all my
heart. He that is sovereign in salvation,
he who loved Jacob, is sovereign in reprobation. You can't have one without the
other. They go together. Now, while I don't completely
understand it, I don't understand it at all, it doesn't bother
me. Shall not the judge of the earth do right? And you can count
on this. God's going to do right. And
this doesn't prevent anyone's salvation. This is not saying
somebody's going to come up and say, Oh, Lord, have mercy on
me. Nope, you're not elect. Never happened. Never happened. Never will happen. There is such a thing as vessels
of wrath fitted to destruction. You see, God actively hardens
the heart. That same sun that melts the
wax hardens the clay. And this is an act of His justice
when He leaves a man to himself. The worst thing that can happen
to me or you is for God to say, leave him alone. I say, Lord,
bid me come to thee. Don't leave me alone. Bid me
come to thee. Lord, save me. I didn't just
pray that prayer a long time ago. I'm praying it today. Lord,
save me. Save me from myself. Save me from my sins. Save me. I guess that's the prayer I pray
most often. Save me out of this mess I've
made. Save me from these circumstances. Should you pray about that? Sure
you should. I'm going to pray about anything. Lord, save me. Now, everything God does is eternal. It's all eternal. God is not
a God of time. He's a God of eternity. I trust Him. I believe this. He's sovereign in reprobation.
He's sovereign in salvation. I trust Him. Whatever He does is right. I
feel such comfort in that. I would have a real hard time
with a God I could understand. There just wouldn't be much to
it. I bow. I bow. Whatever He does is right. I'm
in His hand. Whatever He does is right. Well, the scripture says He endured
with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath. fitted to destruction
that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels
of mercy. Vessels that he pours his mercy
into. I want to be one of those, don't
you? I want to be a vessel of mercy. You know, none of this
stuff, it doesn't, well, if he has vessels of wrath and vessels
of mercy, I guess there's nothing I can do. I'll just wait and
see what happens. Maybe he'll pour it in. No! Lord, save me! Lord, call me. Lord, have mercy
on me. Bring me to yourself. I don't
have any fatalistic views of this. That doesn't make anybody
fatalistic that's truly seeking the Lord. Now, if you want to
be fatalistic, you'll use it to hang yourself. Nobody can
do anything about that if you do that. But that's not going
to cause somebody to not seek the Lord and say, Lord, have
mercy on me. Save me. Cause me to come to
you. I love the language of verse
23, that he might make known the riches of his glory on the
vessels of mercy which he had aforeprepared unto glory. Come, ye blessed of my Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world. Now mercy would be meaningless
if there were no wrath, but oh the riches of His glory that
He could love such sinners, that He could give His Son to die
for such sinners, that there would be grace for such sinners. What glory our Lord displayed
when that woman who was taken in adultery, in the very act,
no question regarding her guilt. And he said unto her, Woman,
where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee? You
see, her accusers had all left. And she said, No man, Lord. And
he said, neither do I condemn thee. And you know why? There wasn't anything to condemn
her for. All sin had been put away, separated
from her as far as the east is from the west. Now that's glory. What glory our Lord demonstrated
when that leper came up to Him and said, Lord, first He came
and worshipped Him. The issue of worship is going
to be settled before the Lord is going to have anything to
do with you. He is to be worshipped without reference to what He
does for me or what He does for you. He is the Lord. He is the
Lord. Now that was settled. He came in worship, Lord, if
you will, you can make me clean, such is your glory, that all
you have to do is will it, and I'll be clean. If you will, you
can. What glory our Lord demonstrated
when He said, I will be thou clean. I think of that poor thief
nailed to a cross in such pain, but he had some understanding
of who the Lord was. The Lord gave it to him. He knew
he was the Lord. He knew he was God. He said,
don't you fear God, seeing we're in the same condemnation? He
knew he was guilty. We indeed justly, for we receive
the due reward of our deeds. He believed in the sinlessness
of Christ. This man has done nothing amiss. And then he said,
Lord. He knew who he was, Lord. He's
the Lord. Lord, remember me. when you come in your kingdom,
you're not going to stay dead. You're a mighty reigning king.
You're going to come back. You're going to be successful.
What glory our Lord displayed when He said today, Thou shalt
be with me in paradise. The riches of His glory Now, the scripture points out
that the vessels of mercy were taken out of the same lump as
the vessels of wrath. Fallen humanity. I know there's arguments and
I think it's superlatives i can pronounce it superlatives and
separate you know about okay and it's is as is the weather
i don't know why i'm bringing up that that's a waste of time
forget it i'm i'm showing how bad i am about stuff like that
but it's uh... but the scripture does say the
vessels of mercy were taken out of the same lump as the vessels
of wrath fallen humanity 2 Timothy 1.9 says, He saved us and He
called us. Which came first, the saving
or the calling? The saving. He saved us and He called us
with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
His own purpose and grace which were given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. Ephesians 1 4 says according
as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world That
we should be holy and without blame before him Now whatever
the Lord does he did before time began That's just who he is Hebrews
4 3 says all the works were finished from the foundation of the world
he declares the end from the beginning and from ancient times
the things that are not yet done saying my counsel shall stand
and And I will do all my pleasure. So we read of these vessels of
wrath and we read of these vessels of mercy. Now how can I determine
whether or not I'm a vessel of mercy? Because I have to say
that if I was a vessel of wrath, God would be giving me exactly
what I deserve. I couldn't complain. I couldn't
say this is not right. I know it is right. How can I
know if I'm a vessel of mercy? That's what I want to be. I want
to be a vessel of mercy. Now look what he says in verse
24. Those vessels of mercy which
were aforeprepared unto glory are identified thusly, even us
whom he hath called. Not of the Jews only, but also
of the Gentiles. You see, whom he did predestinate,
them he also what? Called. Called. We preach Christ crucified
unto the Jews, a stumbling block, unto the Greeks, foolishness,
but unto them which are called. Both Jews and Greeks. Christ,
the power of God. Christ, the wisdom of God. When
Peter was preaching on the day of Pentecost, he said, the promise
is to you and your children and to all that are far off, even
as many as the Lord our God shall call. Romans 9, 11, 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
what of him that calleth. If God has made you a vessel
of mercy before time, He will call you in time. But when it pleased God, who
separated me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace
to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the
heathen, immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood. This
is the end of the message. I mean, it almost sounds like
I'm giving my points now. Don't worry. It's not going to
take long. This is not, I didn't give you a half an hour introduction.
Now I'm getting ready for this big long message. But I do have
five points now. Five points. Regarding this thing of calling.
Who calls? What is the calling? Who does
he call? How does he call? And why does
he call? Very simple points. Now who is
this one who does the calling? It's God who calls. He is actually
called Him who calleth. God the Father, God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit, they do the calling. It's God that calls,
and this is what is so important about this. This is God calling.
This isn't your mom and dad calling. This isn't me. This is God calling. It is God that calls. Oh, I want to hear when He calls,
don't you? And if He calls, you will. Now
somebody says, how can I know God's calling me? You'll know. You'll know. His call is effectual
and irresistible. You will hear when he calls and
if all you hear is my voice, no good game. He didn't call.
But if you hear his voice, my sheep hear my voice. He's calling. If this is just my opinion that
you can agree with or disagree with, God's not calling. When
God calls, You know. You know. You know. What is meant by calling? You're
talking about God calling. What in the world does that mean?
Well, this word calling has three shades of meaning, all which
are of immense importance. First, God's call is a divine
summons. You know, when you get a summons
from court, can you say, well, I'm not going? No, not at all. This is God calling. And it's
not like you even have the option to disobey. This is a divine
summons, the call of God. But not only is the call of God
a divine summons, the call of God is divine wooing. The Lord said, Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy
laden. weary with the burden of sin,
burdened down and laden with a burden that you can't get out
from under. That's who he's speaking to. Come unto me all ye that are
weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. He has the power to give rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you'll find rest
for your souls. Now that's a divine wooing. Now,
while I don't particularly care for the term of an invitation
of the gospel, because if all it is is an invitation, there's
nothing wrong with me disobeying it. I've been invited places
and not shown up, and there wasn't anything wrong with it. It's
more than an invitation, but this sounds kind of like an invitation,
doesn't it? In a way, a divine wooing, but it's a command. The
thing about his wooing is it always works. When you're being
wooed, you'll come, you'll come to him for rest. And it also
means the divine possession. I've called thee by name, thou
art mine. That's God identifying his possession. Behold what manner of love the
Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called children,
the sons of God through the Lord Jesus Christ. So this calling
is a divine summons, it's a divine wooing, and it's the mark of
divine possession. If he calls you, he calls you
because you're his. You belong to him. Now who does
he call? You know the best way I think
I can answer this is with this word, individuals. Individuals. Not some kind of
general call and waiting for a response. No, he calls his
own sheep by name. Whom he did foreknow, them he
also did predestinate. Whom he did predestinate, them
he also called. Whom he called, them he also
justified. He calls individuals. Zacchaeus? Zacchaeus? Make haste! Come down! Today I must abide
at thy house." Well, how's he called? Well,
he said three things about that. First, he calls by grace. Galatians 1.15, but when it pleased
God who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by
His grace. Now if He's calling you, you know it has something
to do with grace. You know that. And He, according to 2 Thessalonians
2.14, says He called you by our gospel. You hear the gospel. And you hear it as the gospel
of God. Not just the preacher's opinion, you hear it as the gospel
of God. And you know it's the gospel. And it comes as good
news to you. Is it good news to you that God
elected a people? That Christ died for the elect?
That God's grace is irresistible and invincible? You know you
need that if He's calling you. That's just what you need. You
need it to be that way. You don't want it to be any other
way. It's a call of grace, it's the
call of the gospel, and it's an irresistible call. Does that mean you're being drugged
against your will? Not really. Although it does. Here's the call of irresistible
grace. I'm not sure if I'm one of the
elect. I'm not sure if Christ died for me. I'm not sure if
I've been regenerated. But I'm sure of this. I need
Christ. And I find Him irresistible. That is irresistible grace. I must have Him. You're like
Paul. Oh, that I may win Christ and
be found in Him. When God comes looking for me,
there's only one place I want to be found. It's not up here
preaching. It's not down on my knees praying.
It's not reading the Bible. Let me be found in the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's what I need. That's what
I do. You know, you don't choose to
believe. You believe because you have
no choice. Amen? Finally, to what are we called? First Corinthians 1.3 says we're
called to be saints. What a high, heavenly, holy calling.
Called to be saints, sanctified ones, God's holy ones. God said, Be ye holy, for I am
holy. The only way you can be holy
is if you are holy. And every believer is a saint,
a holy one of God. And don't ever look at holiness
as a bland, colorless, joyless existence. It's the nature of God in your
soul. Even us whom he hath called,
not the Jews only, but also the Gentiles, as he saith in Hosea,
I will call them my people, which were not my people, and her beloved,
which was not beloved. When God calls, He's going to
call you My people. He's Mine. She's Mine. He's going to call you Beloved. When you weren't Beloved, but
now all of a sudden you are. Beloved all together, lovely
to God. Perfectly conformed to the image
of Jesus Christ. That's what happens when He calls.
You become His people. You become Beloved. Beloved of
the Lord. And it shall come to pass, verse
26, that in the place where it was said unto them, you are not
my people. In that very place, where's that
place at? That's the cross. At the cross, when he was pouring
out his wrath on me, in the person of my substitute, he said, you're
not my people. But in that very place, that
very place, there shall they be called the children of the
living God. What a wonderful place. That is the call of God. And may the Lord enable us. Let me tell you one thing the
called do. If I'm called of God, do you know what I'm going to
do? I'm going to call on His name. Whosoever, one of the best words
in the Bible. Whosoever, that's better than
if it said Todd, it might mean another Todd. Whosoever, I'm
one of them, you're one of them. Whosoever shall call. That's something easy. Help! Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord. That's who He is. I'm calling
upon His sovereignty. Lord, save me as an act of Your
sovereign will. Save me by Your justice. Save
me by Your love. Save me by Your grace. I'm calling
upon all the attributes of God. Come and save me! Here's a sure
word. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall shall, ain't no doubt about it, this
is for sure, shall be saved. May God put that calling in all
of our hearts. Thank you, Todd.