Let's read from the ninth chapter
of the book of Romans, beginning there at verse number six. Not as though the word of God
hath taken none effect, so they are not all Israel which are
of Israel, neither because they are the seed Abraham, are they
all children? But in Isaac shall thy seed be
called, that is, they which are the children of the flesh. These
are not the children of God, but the children of the promise
are counted for the seed. For this is the word of promise,
At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son. And not
only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by
our father Isaac. For the children, being not yet
born, not having done any good or evil that the purpose of God,
according to election, might stand, not of works, but of him
that calleth. It was said unto her, The elder
shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses,
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then, it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. 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. Therefore hath he mercy on whom
he will have mercy, and whom he will, he hardeneth." Well, this is the passage in
our study in the book of Romans. This is where we are. The Apostle Paul, speaking under the inspiration
of the Spirit of God, said in verse 2 of this ninth chapter,
he said, I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart
for his brethren after the flesh. The basis of his sorrow was that the nation of Israel
as a whole had rejected Christ. And it truly was heavy on Paul's
heart. He knew the way they felt. That's what he said in verse
3. He said, I could wish, or I was wishing what he said. I was wishing that myself were
accursed from Christ. When he says, for my brethren,
we saw this last time. He says, for my brethren. He
was saying above them. I think to myself, when I think
back, on how Almighty God has shown me mercy. My mind just keeps going back
to when I was in college. But I'm telling you, you wouldn't
have liked me. Man, I didn't like me, Neil.
Oh, my. Rebellious? Oh, my goodness. Kicked out of the house? I got
up one morning and my dad told me, he said, you've been here
long enough. I said, what do you mean? He said, what do you
mean, what do I mean? You've been here long enough.
He said, you get your stuff and get out. I got out and Paul said, I was
doing the same thing. He said, I was wishing that God
would have cursed me. I was praying He would. I was
just praying by my attitude. I was praying that God would
just make me anathema, rejected Christ. He said, I was doing it far above. You think you were rebellious?
I could give you a few paragraphs to add to your book on rebellion. I could add a few things to that. Maybe you might have some things
that I didn't do, but I bet it wasn't many. I didn't try. And that which aggravated the
situation was that the nation of Israel had the gospel. That's
what he said. pertained at verse 4. There are
Israelites who pertained at the adoption. Paul said they had the law. They
had the services. They had the tabernacle. They
had the sacrifices. And he said, in all of that, he said, the Lord Jesus Christ,
verse 5, He came. He was a Jew. He said, that's
what made it so sad. They came into this, he came
into this world and he was a Jew. And he walked in their midst
and they heard him. There was countries, there was
nations that never heard anything. Left to themselves in their own
foolish practices of worship with the Jews, Paul said. They
actually had the manifestation of God Himself walked in their
midst and they rejected Him. They had the fathers, Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob, the Lord Jesus. But with all that had been shown
concerning the rejection, and it did, it broke Paul's heart. If there's someone today and
you're unconcerned with those that are lost, that oppose themselves,
something's wrong. I know, I know how, as I've said
before, how men say. They say, you know, you people
that preach that sovereign grace stuff, you're so hard, you try
to close everybody out. Oh no, people are closed out
by their rebellion. They close themselves out. It
takes Almighty God to have mercy, give Him a new heart. But as
far as trying to close anybody out, we ain't trying to close
anybody out. I'll tell you this right now. Whosoever will, let
Him come. I've said this before. I've heard
people say, Y'all don't believe in whosoever will. Oh yes, I
do. There's just too many whosoever's won't. They just won't come. But verse 6, and this is where
we're going to pick up. Not as though. Now the Jews had
just, by and large, just said, No, I'm just not going to have
you. I'm just not going to have you. You make yourself be God.
We're not going to have that. We're going to crucify you. Not
as though the Word of God had taken none of that. For they
are not all Israel which are of Israel. What does Paul mean?
That means that just because they were born a Jew by nationality,
That did not make them a spiritual Jew. That's what he was saying.
They're not all of God's children of promise, Israel, that are
just born in the nation. I know there's a big push right
now. They say, you know what, we're going to have to stick
on the side of Israel. We're going to stick with Israel because
if you stick with Israel, and they're talking about that little
country on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. Let me tell
you something. Israel left to themselves are rebels against
God just like people in America are rebels against God left to
themselves. There's nothing special about the nation of Israel going
over to go to the Holy Land. For what? You'd be a whole lot
better off to come sit at Katie Baptist Church. This is where
Almighty God has raised up the preaching of the Gospel. You
want to go to the Holy Land? Come hear the Holy Gospels. Not as though the Word of God
has taken none effect. Under no circumstances is it
to be implied that God has failed to keep His promise. God's Word
has never fallen from its ability to accomplish the purpose of
Almighty God. God Almighty is going to do as
He pleases. He said, My counsel shall stand. You know how many people that
the Lord is going to save? Everybody that He purposes to.
Not one, not one of God's sheep. There won't be one seat vacant
in heaven. And I tell you this, all the
seats are assigned right now. in heaven. They're all assigned. Who's going to be there? Those
that He's everlastingly loved. Those that He's everlastingly
chosen. The promise of God was not made
to the physical nation of Israel, but to spiritual Israel. That's where all that are born
in natural, that country over there, is not the Israel of God. Turn to Romans 2. Romans 2. We read this, looked at this
a month or so ago. Romans 2.28. Romans 2. He is not a Jew. Romans 2.28. Which is one outwardly. I mean,
you meet a man or a woman and they're Jewish. And you know,
just somehow in our frail thinking, we think, well, you know what,
somehow they're Jews. You know, that somehow is a little
bit more elevated. No, it's not. Neither which is
outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew which is one inwardly.
Circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit, not in the letter.
Praise is not of men, but of God. So the Scripture says back
in Romans 9, verse 6, not as though the Word of God had taken
on effect, that the Jews rejected by and large the Lord Jesus Christ. That does not mean that God was
a failure. Everyone that rejected Him, God
just let them do what they wanted to do. Verse 7, "...neither because
they are the seed of Abraham are they all children. But in
Isaac shall thy seed be called." Now, the Jews in John 8.39 boasted,
Abraham is our father. And Jesus said to them, if ye
were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham.
Now what they were talking about was they knew that God had given
a covenant, made a covenant with Abraham. And He said this, in
your seed shall all the nations be blessed. So they had it in
their mind. We are born of the lineage of
Abraham. Therefore, we're sons of Abraham
which equals sons of God. We're children of God because
Abraham was our father. Now, the Lord told him, He said,
no. He said, if Abraham was your
father, if you were Abraham's children spiritually, you would
do the works of Abraham. Well, when He told them, if you
were children of Abraham, if you were sons of Abraham, in
their mind, they were thinking we are. You just have misinterpreted
who we are. You just don't realize. If you
were Abraham's children, you'd do the works of Abraham. Well,
what were the works of Abraham? Well, Abraham believed God. Abraham believed God. Not merely
that he believed in God, as I said before. The devils believe in
God. But they don't believe that Almighty
God sent the Lord Jesus Christ into this world to redeem them.
They don't believe that. They don't believe that He's
their substitute. They don't believe that He walked on this
earth for 33 plus years as their representative before the law
of God and fulfilled it for them. Abraham believed God. He believed
that the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ was their righteousness
and nothing that He could do. That's what Abraham... Abraham
believed God and Abraham obeyed God. Take your son, your only
son, Isaac, and sacrifice him. And Abraham, you know, we've
looked at that before. Abraham got to that place and
he was going to sacrifice. That boy was dead in his mind. He was dead. The knife just hadn't
got there yet. That boy was dead. What are you
going to do, Abraham? He said, Lad and I are going
to go yonder and we're going to worship God. And this is the
way we're going to do it. I'm going to obey God. And he
was convinced, because he said, the lad and I will return, because
he knew that God's promise concerning that boy was that God was going
to bless some people through that boy right there. So he believed
God. He didn't know how he was going
to do it, but he believed God. The Lord told him, he said, if
you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham. God's people, they're born. They're born not of blood nor
the will of the flesh, or the will of man, they're born of
God. Men and women are not considered
children of God because of their lineage from Abraham or anything. Just because your mom or daddy
are believers, that doesn't make you a believer. Just because
your parents or your brother or sister or your family or something,
that doesn't make you a believer. Salvation is of the Lord. But
He said, Neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they
all children, but in Isaac shall thy seed be called." Well, now,
does that mean that every descendant from Isaac? Well, obviously,
it wasn't just from Abraham. It was because Abraham had a
couple of boys, and one of them was Ishmael, and the other one
was Isaac. The Lord says, No. You've got
one son. That was the son. That was the
son of promise. In Isaac shall thy seed be called. And again,
I say, does that mean that everybody from Isaac is one of God's elect? No. The same Scripture that applies
to Abraham's natural descendants applies to Isaac's natural descendants. Just because they're from Isaac,
that doesn't mean. Well, what does it mean then
when it says, In Isaac shall thy seed be called? I've said
just before, when you say they were chosen in Christ, in Adam
all die. What does the "-in"? What does
that mean? In Isaac. It means among or within
or in the same position as. Isaac was the son of promise.
So in Christ, In Adam all die. In Christ all alive. To be in
a position or in a relationship to, that's my representative. Okay? So in Isaac it's a position
that you're talking about. Position of being a child of
promise. So, verse 8, that is, they which
are, he's explaining it. In Isaac shall thy seed be called.
Here's the explanation, verse 8. That is, they which are the
children of the flesh. These are not the children of
God. But the children of the promise are accounted for the
seed. Anything, when it says the children of the flesh, anything
that originates or is thought to be perfected by this old carnal
nature, anything that you think that you can do, that's of the
flesh. It's never considered of God. Anything that you think that
you can think of. Now this, I'm telling you, you
talk about the flesh struggling against the Spirit. Boy, I'm
telling you, even for a believer, somehow, let me tell you how
a believer thinks. They sit here and they think
concerning a person that doesn't believe. In your mind, you're
thinking, you know what? I believe the gospel. You don't. And your flesh tells
you, you've got something to be proud of. And your spirit,
prompted and taught by the Holy Spirit, tells you, no, you don't.
Do you realize? I'm standing here and you're
sitting there. If you're one of His own, called out of darkness,
you're sitting there by the grace of God. You have absolutely nothing
save the glory, the mercy, and the compassion of the Lord Jesus
Christ that you're even here. But for the grace of God, you'd
be somewhere else doing exactly what you want to do. And there's
an old man that's in you that wants to do the very same thing,
be somewhere else doing whatever you want to do. You say, oh no,
I'm not like you. Yes, you are. Yes, you are. You leave me to myself and I'll
tell you this, I would not be here. What would you be doing? Anything but this. Whatever I want to do, whatever's
fun. Whatever's, you know, that's what I'd do. Anything I wanted
to do, that's what I'd do. But the love of Christ constrains
me. Where are you going to go? Peter
says, where will we go? You have the words of eternal
life. Where do you want to be? Wherever you are. What do you
want to be doing? I want to hear what you've got
to say. That's what I want to do. The children of the promise
are counted for the seed. Sarah told Abraham, God said,
I'm going to have a son. Evidently, he meant through somebody
else. So won't you take Hagar? And
you have a son by her, and that'll be my son." So Hagar had Ishmael. The Lord told him, He said, That's
not your son. I didn't give you that son. You produced that.
Sarah is going to have a son. Sarah, in her heart, the Scripture
says, I've got all this written down, Genesis 18, Genesis 21,
but for the sake of time, Sarah laughed in her heart. The Lord
asked Abraham, why does Sarah laugh? She never laughed out
loud, but God knew it. And the Scripture says at the
point in time, God Almighty gave her a son. She was passed, the
Scripture says, the way of a woman. She couldn't have children anymore.
She had stopped her cycle. She couldn't have children. She
was over. But she did. Salvation is a miracle. It's
a miracle. It's apart from anything that
man could do. Well, verse 9, this is the word
of promise. At this time will I come and
Sarah shall have a son. Isaac was born just like all
God's elect, miraculously. Stopped in the midst of rebellion. They weren't sitting there. You
weren't sitting there trying to figure it out and trying to
think, I'll seek the Lord. No man seeks after God. God Almighty
seeks His own. He came to seek and to save. Rescue. That's what that means.
That which is lost. Isaac was born. No glory to Abraham. No glory
to Sarah. They were both too old. But the children of promise.
They are never separated from the sovereign and distinguishing
grace of Almighty God. You stop and think back how you
got here. You say, well, I got here because
my mom and daddy made me come. And I, you know, they made me
come every Sunday. And I, you know, here I was. And I just, that was the provenient
grace of God. that brought you to this place. You got a mom and daddy that's
here and is a believer? You thank God for them. Thank
God that Almighty God gave you parents. That God brought you
and put you through their means to get you. I thank God. My mama one day, I was pastoring
a church. Free will, nothing but a free
will, nothing. Talking to my mama one day, and
she said, I want to introduce you to a friend of mine. I said,
what's his name? Henry Mahan. I said, well, what
does he do? He's a preacher. Where? Ashland,
Kentucky. Here, here's one of his tapes.
You can listen to this. That's the first time I truly
heard. You know, I thank God. If you've got a parent that would
bring you to hear the Gospel, you thank God for them. A lot
of them don't. Children of promise, this time
will I come and Sarah shall have a son. And verse 10, not only
this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by her
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. It was said
unto her, The elder shall serve the younger." Now here is the
ground. Here is the foundation of God's distinguishing grace. I said before this message ever
started, this truth right here. Now this is the foundation. of
the good news that God has mercy on whom He will. This is it. Before the children were even
born, here was Abraham and he had two
boys, Ishmael and Isaac. And Isaac, shall I say, because
Somebody say, well, all of Isaac's kids. No, Isaac had two boys,
Jacob and Esau. You see what I'm saying? Just
because you say, well, it's just my daddy, my great granddaddy
was Abraham and my granddaddy was Isaac, and so therefore,
coming from loins like that, I must be saved. Not necessarily. Isaac had two boys, Jacob and
Esau, and these children, these boys, before they did one thing,
before they were ever born, the children being not yet born. You're saying, now wait a minute, you're telling me that while
these kids were still in their mother's womb, they weren't yet
born. Okay, yeah, you're right so far.
They're not born, neither having done any good or evil. They weren't
born yet. They didn't do anything. They
didn't do anything. It was just two boys that were
in their mother's womb, either having done any good or evil.
But the Scripture says that the purpose of God, and
that's what this is all about right here, the purpose of God,
the purpose of God according to election might stand, might
be secured, might be known, that the purpose of God according
to election might remain, abide, continue. It is here clearly
stated that Almighty God had absolutely no regard to anything
Anybody, now listen, I want to make sure that when we leave
today that you understand what I'm saying. Almighty God has
absolutely no regard, no regard, no regard to anything or anybody
except His purpose. His will. His counsel. He said, My counsel is going
to stand. Almighty God, before these boys
were ever born, before they did anything, before anything ever
happened, before either one of them came out of the mother's
womb, that the purpose of God according to election might abide
not of works." There's nothing scripturally
said ever that is meritorious in any man's works, anything
that that man can do that will merit salvation before God. Nothing that you think Nothing
that you conceive. Nothing matters but God's will. God's purpose. Almighty God is
going to stand. And every man is going to stand
before Almighty God based on one thing. What God thinks about
you. I'm telling you, you and I both,
all of us, We are putty in His hand. He is the potter and we're
the clay. Somebody came up to me and I
don't remember who it was. Brother Scott told me about him
the other day. He gave me the man's name. B.B. Caldwell. I
don't remember who it was. Two young, energetic soul winners. I'm going to come up and witness
to it. Asking me, he said, you saved,
brother? And he said, if I'm not, what are you going to do
about it? What are you going to do? We are by nature so arrogant.
We think that God has regard to something that we do or don't
do. He said, I'll have mercy on whom
I'll have mercy. I'll have compassion on whom
I'll have compassion. And if He's purposed to do so,
He'll harden you, leave you to yourself. And you know what we're
going to say? Nothing. Nothing. You're not going to say one thing.
Somebody said, well, I'll tell you what, that's just a little
bit too hard. Let me tell you something. This is the God of
this Bible. And men speak of him as if he's
some old man, like an old grandfather that's just trying to be nice
to his grandchildren, great-grandchildren. And maybe, maybe they'll show
him a little compassion. Maybe they'll call him up. You
know, I love it when my granddaughters... I've got two little granddaughters,
and they'll call me, Hi, Papa. Oh, my heart just... I say, Baby,
my heart feels good when I hear your voice. I just love to hear
your voice. You know, people think of God
Almighty like they can just manipulate Him and just, you know. Romans 4, 5 says, But to him
that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly,
his faith is counted for righteousness. His faith is what reveals that
God has been merciful to him. The children being not yet born."
I want you to understand that. Either having done any good or
evil that the purpose of God according to election might stand.
Not of works, but of Him that calleth. Him that sets forth
His power. Him that names you. He that summons
you affectionately. What? It was said unto her, the
elder shall serve the younger. The oldest one who would naturally
have the birthright. But this servitude, because it's
never recorded that Jacob ever ruled over in this life Esau. In fact, if you read it, it looked
like Esau had the upper hand. But the bottom line was this.
Esau was a spiritual servant to Jacob. Why? Because he was
rejected of the inheritance. Esau, Esau was the older of the
two boys. Coming in one day, and he's just
all wore out, and he's hot and sweaty. He'd been fishing. His
daddy, you know, daddy loved him. He made great soup. Daddy
loved that venison soup. Man, that was good. Came in,
and he just about starved to death. Told Jacob, he said, give
me something to eat. How about some of that lentil
soup you got. And Jacob said, give me your
birthright. He said, you can have it. No big deal. Sold it
out for a bowl of soup. As I've said before, men say,
boy, that was pretty cheap. Men sell them out for a whole
lot less than that. They'll sell them out for anything.
Esau had no interest in spiritual adoption, no interest right now
in the covenant of God's grace because he was not an heir of
heaven. It just didn't matter. That's how you know. That's how
you know. How do you know? It just don't matter. How do
you figure out, you know, who has an interest? Well, they have
an interest. They hear. As it is written, verse 13, Jacob
have I loved, but Esau have I hated. I'll tell you this, if you try
to read some of the writers on that, this is what they'll say
that says, Jacob have I loved, and Esau have I loved less. The word hated, this is what
it means. It means hated. Hated. I'm going to show you this in
just a minute. As it is written, that's what
he says, as it is written, as the Scriptures sets forth,
as the Word of God establishes. And therefore, this is conclusive. That means as God Almighty has
stated it to be, it is not to be doubted, it is not to be refuted. This is the way it is. It was
written in Malachi 1, verses 1 to 3, Jacob have I loved and
Esau have I hated, as it was written in the Old Testament.
Jacob was loved while he was still in his mother's womb. Well,
I tell you this, it goes a whole lot farther back than that. The
Lord says concerning his people, I've loved you with an everlasting
love. I've always loved you. Jacob was loved before time began. The earth was laid down. The foundations were established.
Jacob was always loved of God. And Esau was always hated. You're saying, are you saying
before they were born? Yeah. Yeah, before they were
born. You mean before they came forth from their mother's womb
and did anything? Well, let me ask you this. 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,
semicolon. That means we just keep reading.
It was said, the elder shall serve the younger. It's written,
Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated. Well, why would you
figure that Esau was hated of God? Why? Why do you think he
was hated of God? Well, let me ask you this. When
he came forth from Almighty God in time, I understand this, he
sinned in Adam. I know he was an object of rebellion
and disobedience before God. He was conceived in sin, came
forth from his mother's womb, a liar, and eventually manifested
that rebellion and his lack of concern for anything that had
any resemblance whatsoever of any kind of honor, but you look
that he saw with our human understanding. And he was really the better
of the two, the nicer of the guy. Jacob was the trickster.
He was the liar and the conniver. Jacob was not a nice guy. He wasn't a nice guy. He came
in there and put his brother's coat on. His daddy couldn't see
very good, and he walked in there. And Isaac put his hand on it,
and he thought, Esau had hairy arms, it says. He put his hand
on that coat right there, and he felt those skins and everything.
And he smelled it, you know, and it was Esau's coat on. And
he said, are you Esau? And Jacob said, yes, I am. He's a liar. That wasn't Esau. That was Jacob. He was a liar. He was a trickster. Jacob, twin brother of Esau,
same mama. Same daddy. Born on the same
ground. Cut out of the same lump. But Almighty God was pleased
to view Jacob in Christ. Jacob was an object of God's
mercy. Justified by the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ before he was ever born. You're saying, now wait a minute,
wait a minute. Are you telling me that Jacob
was loved because of the righteousness of Christ before he was ever
born? Well, why don't you turn over
to Psalm 45.7 and let me show you something. If anybody ever
tells you, I don't need to remind you of this, but I will. You
remember the foundation that we'll lay down on the immutability
of God? God never changes. Someone says,
well, I thought that really the righteousness of Christ was not
imputed to somebody until they believed. Let me ask you something. Does
the Scripture say that the Lord, speaking to Jeremiah, I've loved you with an everlasting
love. I've loved you with an everlasting
love. It does. The answer is yes. I've always
loved you. My question is this. Why? Why would God Almighty everlastingly
love His people? Look at Psalm 45, 7. Thou lovest
righteousness. Now let me ask you this. How
many righteous are there? There's none righteous but who?
You know that. God. There's none righteous but
God. Thou lovest righteousness and
hatest wickedness. Therefore God thy God hath anointed
thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." Now, my question
is this. If Almighty God has everlastingly
loved his people, and that is not up for debate. Why? Because God says he did. God Almighty said, I've always
loved you. If He says, I love righteousness,
and He said, I've always loved you, what is the basis of His
love? It's the righteousness of the
Lord Jesus Christ, because there's none righteous but God. If He's always seen you in Him,
and He's always loved you, because that's His Son in whom He's well
pleased. Therefore, how long has the righteousness
of Christ and the eternal purpose and will of Almighty God stood? How long? It's always stood. Why? He never changes. Anytime
somebody says, well, now the righteousness of Christ is not
actually imputed until you believe. No, no, no. No, no. No. You understand. when you believe. But your understanding
doesn't start anything with God. God doesn't change. How long
have you been justified before Almighty? Declared righteous
in Christ forever. But you say, but I thought that
I was born in Adam, conceived in sin. You were. But Almighty
God, for His elect, before the foundation of the world, in the
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, Almighty God saw
you in your substitute forever. What did you say, Brother Scott?
Where God put a man, He kept a man. Where God put him, you
say, oh, this is the way God sees me today, justified, righteous. I'm a believer. God Almighty
sees me in Christ right now. If you insinuate that God ever
saw you any other way, therein you err. That's just the way we think.
God is eternal. God is now. Well, how long has
now been for God? It's always now with God. How
is it? This way. So therefore, when
He says, Jacob have I loved, Why? Because he always saw Jacob
in Christ. I've always loved you. Why? Because
in Christ as the representative, as the substitute, as the federal
head, he's always loved him in Christ. What did he do in Adam?
Christ was made sin and God dealt with him. That part of me in
Adam, the guilt of that was taken care of. Why did he hate Esau? Because he said, I never knew
you in mercy. He knew him. He knew who he was.
Not that. It's not that God didn't know
who he was. Almighty God says concerning these two boys, Jacob
have I loved being found in my son. Boy, you think it was because
of something Jacob did? You wouldn't have liked Jacob.
I wouldn't have either. He lied to me. Tricked me. Tried to trip me up. Fool me? I don't like you. I kind of like
Esau. He's kind of, you know, a nice
guy. But the only difference is God Almighty looked at Jacob
in Christ. He looked at Esau in himself,
in Adam. Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I... I love righteousness and I hate iniquity. Back in Romans 9, what shall
we say then? Verse 14, is there unrighteousness
with God? under the inspiration of the
Spirit of God, anticipating what the carnal mind is going to say
concerning the truth about God can have mercy on whomsoever
He will. He can love whomsoever He will.
He can choose any son whomsoever He will. He can leave a man to
himself if He desires to. What shall we say then? To what? Jacob have I loved and Esau have
I hated. What are we going to say? The
carnal mind would reason, well, doesn't God loving Jacob and
hating Esau before either one of them had ever been born, doesn't
that mean that God's unjust? He didn't even wait until those
boys were born. He didn't have to. He knew just exactly what they
were. What were they? Whatever he chose to be. You know what we're going to
come to the conclusion of? God is sovereign. That's where
we're going to come. God Almighty is sovereign. Is it just? Is there unrighteousness
with God? Is it just for God to love one
that has done no good? Is it just for God to love one
in Christ who in Himself has done no good And to hate one
that has done no evil, is it just for God? Absolutely. Almighty
God is just, wise, and holy. So according to His sovereign
will, He does everything according to the perfection of His character. And He sets forth, this is the
way that I am. And God Almighty does no man
any injustice by leaving him to himself. If you desire to
go to hell, the Lord will let you do what you want to do. But
if he intervenes and says, stop him from running down to the
pit, I found a ransom. When did he find him? He always found him. For he saith to Moses,
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that shall with mercy."
Absolute, total, sovereign grace. God. This is God. at not many
places that the Lord has allowed Himself to be preached. But I'm telling you, based on
the authority of this Word, this is the God of this Bible. This
is the truth. Here's the whole conclusion of
it. It's not of Him that wills. What free will? A man doesn't
have a free will. I said before, free, that means
bound by nothing. I'm free. I'm bound by nothing.
Your will is bound by your nature. What do you mean it's bound? You're dead. You're dead. That's kind of a binding thing. Well, why don't you do something?
I can't. Why? I did. Not of him that willeth, nor
of him that runneth, You can do all of the exterior
stuff you think is going to merit you before God. You can pass
out all the tracts and do everything. If you think that that's going
to merit anything before God, it is God that shows mercy. Almighty
God. Salvation of the Lord. Do they believe? Does God's people
believe? Yes, they do. Philippians 1.29 is given in
behalf of Christ for His sake. not only to believe on Him, but
also to suffer for His namesake. You ridiculed and made fun of
and, you know, oh, what a blessing. What a blessing. Salvation is
of God. Almighty God, before the foundation
of the world, purposed to have a people. And He does have them. And they will come. And they
will get unto the gospel. And He will save them. This is
what's going to happen, Bob. They're going to be saved. All
that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh
to me by faith, I will in no wise cast him. Aren't you glad? But let us leave
today with this thought. You know, when men angrily hear the truth, of God's electing
grace. And I do know I've stood in a
pulpit, and believe me, I have preached saying that I believed
in grace. I believed that salvation was
of grace. But this is what I thought it meant. God will graciously
save you if you'll let Him. That's what I thought it meant.
I thought that God graciously offers you salvation. And when men by nature hear the
truth of God's sovereign grace, that God can leave a man or woman
to themselves, He does them no injustice by leaving them alone,
by hardening them, which means leave them alone. If that's what
you want to do, if God leaves you to yourself, who are you
going to blame? God Almighty did not do one man that has left
this world. and has found himself in hell,
God Almighty did no injustice to that man. God's a just God.
If He leaves you to yourself, you're not going to blame God.
But if God shows you mercy, Almighty God, in spite of you, in spite
of your rebellion, in spite of your silliness, In spite of your
fickleness, when you thought that you were something, when
you were nothing but a maggot, Almighty God intervened and showed
mercy to you. Someone says, well, it just seems
like it'd be a little bit more fair. As I've said before, well,
I'll tell you fair. If you want to talk fair, then
Adam will all die. What else do you want me to say?
If you want to talk about fair now, fair. They say, well, that's
sovereign grace stuff. I just don't sound fair to me.
Last Scripture, Romans 9, 29. As Isaiah said before, except
the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodom
and Bible made like unto Gomorrah. Men hate the gospel of free grace. They hate it. They hate it. They
hate it. But let me ask you something.
Jim, if God hadn't of chose somebody and showed mercy to them and
considered them in Christ, if God Almighty hadn't of purposed,
I'm going to show mercy, what would have been the alternative?
We'd have all perished. So when you hear of sovereign
grace, saving, electing, distinguishing grace, when someone speaks disrespectfully
of it, remember this. If God Almighty hadn't left us
a remnant, if God hadn't chosen to show mercy, He would have
obliterated us, but because He loved the order of man. Out of
every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue, He chose some. And
He said, I'm going to show mercy to whom I'm going to show mercy.
And to whom I will, I'm going to show compassion. And whom
I will, I'm going to leave to themselves. This is the God of
the Bible. This is the Gospel. This is the
good news. What's the good news? He will
have mercy. If Almighty God has given you
this morning a heart that says, you know, I think He's had mercy
on me, you know what I'd do? I'd confess Him. I'd confess
Him in baptism. I'd tell everybody, this is what
God did for me. Here you come.