Paul assumes a question. Thou wilt say then unto me, why
doth he yet find fault? Why doth God yet find fault for
who hath resisted his will? Now this is in anticipation of
a objection to what Paul has taught in these previous verses,
which is simply that God is sovereign. That God saves who he wants to
save and damns who he wants to dam. And he does so solely on
the basis of love for some and hatred of others. The marvel of God's grace is
that he loves some sinners. And that love is bestowed and
withheld completely without regard to anything about the objects
of that love. or those who are not, before
they're born, before anything had been done at all by either
of them is clearly, and he spells out why, why that's the case, why it mentions
the fact in verse 11, that neither had yet been born, neither have
done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to choice,
and that's the word election, just means choice, election,
might stand, not of works. That's why it's specifically
pointed out that neither were born or had done anything, so
that we would know that God's love has nothing to do with anything
you are or have done or ever will be or do. But it's of him
that calleth. Paul has taught that very clearly
and thoroughly that salvation is not up to you. And I know
I say that a lot, but that's what passes for a gospel
in this religious world. God's done all this wonderful
stuff, but now it's up to you. That's what Satan said in the
Garden of Eden. It's up to you. God said this, but it's up to
you. And what could be more clearly
taught and how could it be more clearly taught than in these first verses of chapter nine
here, that it's not up to you. It's up to God. It's his will
that determines who's saved and who's not, not your will. He
said, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. And of course
that leper in Matthew chapter eight, The Lord had taught him
that, hadn't he? He said, if you will, you can
make me clean. So you see in this why false
religion is called anti-Christ, because it is exactly the opposite
of the truth. Exactly the opposite. And the
objection that's voiced in the persona of someone who rejects
God's truth, is an old one, and yet it's still new. We still hear it now, today,
when someone's confronted with the truth of who God really is
and how he really saves sinners, this is the same objection. If
God determines everything, then how can man be blamed for what
was determined by God? God being sovereign doesn't sit
well with the sinner's sense of fairness. It wouldn't be fair
for God to blame me for something that he purposed, that he determined. Just like in the Garden of Eden,
it's not fair. God is the one that set the rules
and that's just not fair. It's not fair for God to deprive
you of your true full potential. It's not fair for God to impose
upon you his will, when you are perfectly capable of deciding
for yourself. It's not fair for God to determine
this for you, you have a free will. That's what happened in
the Garden of Eden. It's the same old lie, and it
is a satanic one. Satan rebels against God, and he does so by human logic. He does so by appealing to man's
sense of fairness, man's will, not free will, but man's will,
depraved will. And he convinces sinners to believe what seems right to
them instead of what God said. The very clear, wasn't it clear
in the garden? Pretty clear. Everything in this paradise you
can have, but not that, not that. And yet Satan was subtle enough
even to deceive in that plain, simple, obvious situation and to thwart in his mind, the truth of God. To confuse
it, to add something to it. And what he added was the free
will of man. Satan duped man. You think about
how stupid we are as human beings. He duped us in the garden by
appealing to our will in the matter of whether to obey God
or not. And now tonight, this very night, you know it and I
know it, if you know the Lord, Satan is duping sinners by appealing
to their will. In the matter of salvation, again,
in rebellion against the clear, plain, powerful truth of God,
God's sovereignty, God's will, God's way. It's not complicated. It's just that we're still that
stupid. We're still that evil that we prefer what we think. And will not bow to the truth
of God. Man insisted on his own free
will in the garden and man insists on his imaginary free will in
so-called churches this very evening. Making decisions when God said
it is not of him that willeth. doing things to be saved when
God said it is not of him that runneth. Hating the truth of
God, the simple truth of God who said, I will have mercy. He's told us how he'll do it.
He's told us when he'll do it. He's gonna do it by the preaching
of the gospel, not by catering to man's ideas of what's fair,
but by declaring God as who he is and Christ, the sovereign
son of God, Who he is and what he did what he accomplished what
he finished on Calvary That's how he's gonna save sinners
and he does all the saving Religion says well your part
in salvation is to believe no, that's the gift of God clearly
in the scriptures. I My grace are you saved through
faith, and that's not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should vote. Christ is said to be, in Hebrews
11, I guess, or 12, the author and the finisher of our faith. And you look at that word author,
it means that by which anything begins to be. My faith began
to be because Christ authored it. The fruit of the spirit,
Galatians 5, is what? Faith. The fruit of the flesh
is all the bad stuff in that same chapter. The fruit of the
spirit, what the spirit does in a sinner, is among other things,
faith. Your part in salvation is that
you need it. Our part in salvation is that
we need to be saved from our sin. Our sin is our part in it. We do the sinning and God does
all the saving. And unless and until he's exalted
that way, nobody's gonna be saved. You're not gonna be saved hearing
about your free will and what you need to do. This whole book
is written to show that your doing is nothing but evil and
that salvation is not by your doing. All the while boasting of their
free will, man is in the clutches of the devil. Can you see his ancient technique
being employed right before our eyes? Man is doing like he did in the
beginning when we fell, when we became sinful before God.
sinners by nature and sinners by practice. He's doing the same
thing he did then and we're falling for it just like we did then. We're doing exactly what Satan
wants us to do until God has mercy on our soul. Look with
me at 2 Timothy chapter two. Let's look carefully at this
passage of scripture in relation to our text. You see what the objection is
in our first verse there. You've heard it, you may have
thought it, you may have wondered it, it may have come up in your
mind at one time or another. You've probably heard others
say it. If God determines everything, then how can he blame me for
anything? Well, second, and you know why
we say that, you know why sinners say that is because we believe
we have a free will. We believe the only way that
we're responsible for what we do is if we have a free will.
All right, look at 2 Timothy 2, 23. I've got a little context around this
to show what's going on here. This is Paul teaching Timothy,
a young preacher. Concerning the ministry and he
says but foolish and unlearned questions avoid The people start
asking how what who why when and all that and it has nothing
to do with the gospel Just avoid it Just say you know, we're here
to learn about the Savior and what he did for sinners And we're
not interested in what God hasn't revealed Knowing that they do gender stripes
It's obvious, isn't it? Have you ever seen so much arguing
and debating and division over foolish things in the church? And the servant of the Lord must
not strive. You see that? Foolish and unlearned
questions gender strife, and that's something that a pastor
cannot do. We're not up here trying to prove
the gospel and defend the gospel. We're just declaring it. I'm
not gonna strive with you about it. If you wanna hear from God,
let's learn together. If not, but be gentle unto all, be gentle
unto all, apt to teach, patient, in meekness, instructing those
that oppose themselves. The problem with people that
don't know God is that they're own worst enemy. The very things
that they believe, oh, salvation's by my free will. The problem
with that is you don't have one, so you can't be saved then by
what you're saying. You're your own worst enemy.
You've forsaken your own mercy. If you've got to do something
to earn favor with God, you're a goner. Do you really think
God is impressed with you walking down an aisle and deciding something
for Him? In meekness, instructing those that
oppose themselves. And here's why we do it, not
to convince them, not to get them thinking the way we do,
not to out-argue them, not to debate so well that they have
to agree with us. We do it because God just might
have mercy on them if God peradventure will give them repentance. Isn't
that so clear? We preach Christ and Him crucified
because that's how God saves sinners. And the way He does
that is He gives repentance to someone hearing who Christ really
is and what He really accomplished. Not an offer to sinners, but
an offering unto God for His sheep, for His elect, for all
those He loved from eternity and redeemed with His precious
blood. We preach that because we think
that God just might. He said he would save somebody.
I don't know if any of them are here that are lost tonight, but
are yet his sheep. But God per adventure will give
them repentance. It's the gift of God. By grace
are you saved through faith. And you don't come up with that.
It's the gift of God. It's not of works. If it was,
you'd boast about your faith, and that's what they do. I made
a decision for Jesus when I was 13 years old. Really, did you? I wonder if God decided to save
you, though. I hope he did, but I don't think
you'd be saying that if he did. You'd be giving the glory to
him. If God, per adventure, we don't
know, We don't know if God will save anybody tonight or not,
but I know he can. And I know if he's going to,
I know how he'll do it. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching. We preach Christ. The foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe on him. Maybe God will, just maybe, he'll
give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. I know the truth is offensive
to the flesh. You think it was offensive to
that Canaanite woman when the Lord said, you're a dog and I've got no business having
mercy on you. It wouldn't be right for me to
take the children's bread and give it to a dog like you. But what was her response? She
acknowledged the truth. She said, truth, Lord, But even
the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master's table.
You're the master. I'm a dog, but I want to be your
dog. That's how you come to Christ.
You realize what you are and who he is, what he did and why. to the acknowledging of the truth
and then that they may recover themselves out of the snare of
the devil. If you ever see the truth and know the truth, you
know what you're going to do? You're going to run to Christ. But you're
in the snare of the devil right now and are taken captive by
him at his will. Just like in the garden this
very night, people are doing exactly what Satan wants them
to do and boasting of their free will all the time. Their church
sign out front may have the words free will on it. and they're
in the clutches of Satan doing exactly what he wants them to
do, questioning the truth of God, of his sovereignty, of his
authority, of his will, of his way, which all is revealed in his
son. Mankind fell, died spiritually,
and plunged into total depravity by rebelling against God's sovereign
authority. And we're still doing it. We're still doing it. What's it gonna take to rescue
mankind from their spiritual death and depravity? We just read it. God, in his
sovereignty, must bestow upon them the gift of repentance.
The very God that they reject has got to be the God who they
reject and give them what they need. Repentance is a change of mind.
That's all it is. Problem is you can't just change
your mind. You can't just decide to love God when you've hated
him your whole life. The God of the Bible anyway.
Religion loves the false God of religion. Everybody loves their idols.
They wouldn't have made them the way that they did if they didn't
love them. But you got to change your mind
about this thing of your free will. You have to change your
mind about it. And only God can give you that, the ability to
do that. You don't have to come to the
place where you say, God, if you will, if you will, this thing
hangs on your will. If you will, you can save me.
Have mercy. of mercy. He's gonna have to change their
minds, give them repentance, the gift of acknowledging the
truth that they rebelled against in the first place. The truth that Christ is sovereign.
The Lord Jesus Christ said, as the father giveth life to whomsoever
he will, He also has bestowed upon the Son the authority to
give life to Whomsoever He will, John chapter five. Christ is sovereign, Christ is
salvation. He is salvation. Not anything
you do, not a decision you make, it's a person. And we've got to come to the
place by God's grace where we count all that our free will
did for us as done, that we may win Christ and be
found in him, not having our own righteousness, but the righteousness
which is by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ, standing before
God in Christ my righteousness. This is why salvation in the
scriptures is called a submission. It's a submission. Our text is
the reason. Because we naturally rebel against
God's law. We question God's authority.
That's what's happening, and we know that by the answer, don't
we? Who are you to reply against God? That tells us right there
what you're doing when you say, you know, who hath resisted his
will? How then can we be held accountable
for our sin? You're rebelling against God's
authority. We rebel against God's law by
nature. We rebel against God's grace
by nature. We rebel against God's word.
We despise and rebel against the notion that it's all up to
God and not us. So there must, in God's saving
us, if he's pleased to do so, there must be a submission. So
everything is rebellion until that point. God's got to bring
us into the dust. Hence the language of Romans
10, four. Let's read 10, one through four. Brethren, my heart's desire and
prayer to God. And remember, this is the same
context as our chapter. Next chapter, same subject. Paul's heart's desire and prayer
to God for Israel is that they might be saved. For I bear them
record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to
knowledge. Of course they did. They were religious. Religion
has this zeal of God. They talk about God and heaven
and hell and use the Bible. A lot of them the same Bible
we do, but not according to knowledge. And you notice in verse one there
that he doesn't say my prayer to God for Israel is that they
might come around to our way of thinking. The problem with
having a religious zeal of God not according to knowledge is
that you need to be saved from that. You're lost. For they being ignorant of God's
righteousness, they actually think that by coming down an
aisle and saying a prayer or making a decision or whatever
it is, I don't know, maybe religion's changed since I was younger.
But I doubt it. It's gonna be something, isn't
it? It's gonna be something we do. They think that makes them righteous
before God? They have not submitted themselves
unto the righteousness of God, for Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness. Until you come to Christ, you're
still under the law. There's no end of the law. for
righteousness for you. You're still required to perfectly
keep the law and thought, word and deed for righteousness until
you come to Christ. Unless and until. He's the end
of that. To everyone that believe it.
That believing faith coming from him. As we see all through the
scriptures. Objecting to God's truth, which
is what our text is. There's an objection Well, that's
not fair that doesn't seem right. How can he blame us blah blah
blah? Objecting to God's truth is the very opposite of submitting
to God's truth Romans chapter 10 where we just read Look at verse 20 of our text Romans 9 20 Paul's answer to the objection
is simple and powerful and undeniable. You're not God and you don't
get to question God. That's pretty simple. Anything
else would be dishonoring to God except that. If you answer
man's objection to the truth of God's sovereignty with theories
and arguments and debates and what about this and what about
that, you're bandying about the truth of God as though it was
something up for debate. It's not. The only way to answer
that is you're not God and you don't get to question him. Listen to Daniel 4.34. You remember
Nebuchadnezzar. He says, at the end of the days
that God showed him what he is and who God is, at the end of
those days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes unto heaven,
and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the Most
High, and I praised and honored him that liveth forever, whose
dominion is an everlasting dominion, And his kingdom is from generation
to generation. And all the inhabitants of the
earth are reputed as nothing. And he doeth according to his
will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the
earth, and none can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest
thou? You don't get to say verse 19
in our text. You don't get to say that. Nobody
can stop him and nobody can question him, Nebuchadnezzar said. You
don't get to do that, he's God and you're not. Simple enough. You can't stay his hand, that
is you have no power to stop God from doing what he's gonna
do. You can't stop him from saving you. That's pretty good news,
isn't it? They say, well, if you're not
willing, if you don't let God save you, he can't save you.
I beg your pardon. I think Saul of Tarsus might
take issue with that, you reckon? He was on his way to kill more
of God's sheep. And God blinded him and put him
in the dust, knocked him off his horse and said, you're gonna
do what I say. You can't stay his hand, you
can't stop him. You can't stop him from saving
you, so you sure aren't gonna stop him from throwing you in
hell. He does as he pleases, that's
his sovereignty. And you can't say unto him, what
doest thou? You have no right to question what he does. Your response to the truth of
God's sovereignty in saving sinners, that he saves who he wants to,
better not be, I have a problem with that. Your response had better be,
Lord, If you're in this business of saving sinners, save me, have
mercy on me. Paul doesn't try to defend God's
right to do as he pleases. Paul simply declares God's right
to do as he pleases. There's a big difference. That's
how the gospel is preached, not addressing the error, but declaring
the truth. How many times when the disciples
asked the Lord something that had nothing to do with anything,
did he answer them with what they needed to hear, not by answering
their question? He often just ignored their question
and told them what they needed to know. Paul exposes the error, but he
doesn't address it. He just imposes God's authority
by the scriptures. Remember how many times we saw
in the beginning of this, where he quoted the scriptures? He exposes the error, he rebukes
the sinner that defies the word of God. And that's the answer whenever
man says, That which is opposed to the
truth of God. Who are you to reply against
God? We are the thing formed. The thing formed. We're not ever
going to have 1,000 people in this place saying things like
that, are we? That's just the Bible. I just
quoted the scripture. You are the thing formed, and
you can't say to the one that formed you, why did you make
me this way? You don't get to do that. You
bow to his truth, and instead of rebelling and questioning and objecting, you say, Lord,
have mercy on me. Have mercy on a sinner like me.
God be merciful to me, the sinner. You wouldn't be the first sinner
that said that. We don't like to think about
that, that we're just a thing formed by God. Out of the dust,
by the way, out of the dirt, we are of the earth, earthy.
Because we don't like that because we think the universe revolves
around us. We think our will is inviolate.
The most sacred thing in the universe, according to free will
religion, is the will of man. Even God can't touch that. You're just a thing that God
formed. And the only thing that makes
you worth anything but cutting down and burning is the love
of God in Christ. I read something, I think last
night, that said how precious our souls must be in order for
Satan to be so busy trying to steal our soul and for God to
give his life for our soul. How valuable. Valuable we must
be That's not what this book says We're worth something to God
we're worth everything to God because he loves Us not because
of our intrinsic value that were some prize to be won And Satan's only interested in
us because God is and His purpose is to hate God and thwart God
and to keep you from Christ. We are the thing formed. What
a display of our self-righteous rebellious pride for us to question
God. He made us like a potter forms
a piece of clay. And why did he even do that?
Well, we have that answer in Revelation 4.11. All things were
created by him and for his pleasure they are and were created because
he wanted to. I was gonna, let's see how much
we got left here. Turn with me to Job chapter 38
for just a minute. Job 38, and we won't read this
whole, I was gonna read two whole chapters of this. I'll tell you
what, we need to read them. And we will sometime. Job 38. You know, Job was questioning
God, wasn't he? He didn't blaspheme God the way
his friends did. He spoke that which was right
concerning God, but he was asking, why, Lord, why me? You know why? Have you turned your back on
me? And listen to what the Lord answered
him. Verse one of chapter 38. Then
the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, who is
this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? That's
religion's problem, according to Paul. They're talking about
God, but they don't know who God is. Gird up now thy loins
like a man, for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me. God's not answerable to you.
You say, well, how can he find fault with us? He's not answerable
to you. We're answerable to him. "'You
answer me,' God said, "'where were you "'when I laid the foundations
of the earth?' "'If thou hast understanding, "'who laid the
measures thereof if thou knowest, "'or who hath stretched the line
upon it? "'Whereupon are the foundations
thereof fastened, "'or who hath laid the cornerstone thereof?'
When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted
for joy, or who shut up the sea with doors when it break forth,
as if it had issued out of the womb? When I made the cloud the
garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddling band for it, and
break up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors, and said,
Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further, "'And here shall
thy proud waves be stayed. "'Hast thou commanded the morning
since thy days "'and caused the day spring to know his place,
"'that it might take hold of the ends of the earth, "'that
the wicked might be shaken out of it? "'It is turned as clay
to the seal, "'and they stand as a garment. "'And from the
wicked their light is withholden, "'and the light in the high arms
shall be broken. "'Hast thou entered into the
springs of the sea, Or hast thou walked in the search of the depth?
Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? Or hast thou
seen the doors of the shadow of death? And he goes on like
that through this whole chapter. Look at verse 34. Canst thou
lift up thy voice to the clouds that abundance of waters may
cover thee? We're missing God all around
us. We take for granted everything
he does. Canst thou send lightnings that
they may go and say unto thee, here we are? Who hath put wisdom
in the inward parts? If you did know something about
me, where would that have come from? Or who hath given understanding
to the heart? Who can number the clouds in
wisdom? Or who can stay the bottles of heaven when the dust groweth
into hardness and the clouds cleave fast together? Wilt thou
hunt the prey for the lion? God gives the lion something
to eat. It doesn't happen by chance. It doesn't just, oh,
well, there's a gazelle. That's lucky. God is the one
that feeds them. Or fill the appetite of the young
lions when they couch in their dens and abide in the covert
to lie in wait. Who provide for the raven his
food when his young ones cry unto God? They wander for lack
of meat. Knowest thou the time when the
wild goats of the rock bring forth? Or canst thou mark when
the hens do cow? Canst thou number the months
that they fulfill? Or knowest thou the time when
they bring forth? I'd love to take the time to
read all this. We're going to do it soon. Look at, Look at
verse 13, I just saw a picture of some peacocks recently. Verse
13, gave us thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks, or wings and
feathers unto the ostrich, which leaveth her eggs in the earth
and warmeth them in the dust. "'and forgetteth that the foot
may crush them "'or that the wild beast may break them. "'She
is hardened against her young ones "'as though they were not
hers. "'Her labor is in vain without fear "'because God hath
deprived her of wisdom. "'Neither hath he imparted to
her understanding. "'What time she lifteth up herself
on high, "'she scorneth the horse and his rider. "'Hast thou given
the horse strength? "'Hast thou clothed his neck
with thunder? Canst thou make him afraid as
a grasshopper? The glory of his nostrils is
terrible. He paweth in the valley and rejoiceth in his strength.
He goeth on to meet the armed men. And you know what's just
overwhelming about all this? It's what all is not mentioned
here. He talks about grasshoppers and peacocks and the hens, the
little animals that run through the rocks and climb mountains. The hawk, verse 26. The eagle,
verse 27. She dwelleth, verse 28, and abideth
on the rock, upon the crag of the rock and the strong place.
From thence she seeketh to pray, and her eyes behold afar off. Her young ones also suck up blood,
and where the slain are, there is she. Moreover, the Lord answered
Job, verse chapter 40, and said, Shall he that contendeth with
the Almighty instruct him? Verse 19 of our text, are you
gonna, you got a better way, a more fair, a more righteous
way of doing things than God does? He that reproveth God,
let him answer it. You know what Job's answer was? I'm gonna shut up now. If you've ever had that question,
verse 19 of our text in your mind, well, if God is sovereign,
none of this makes any sense. It's time to shut up. Job, his face was probably melting. God Almighty is telling, where
were you? Where were you when I did all
this? You answer me. I'm not answerable
to you. You answer me. Do you have an
answer for who I am and what I do and what I say? Then Job
answered the Lord and said, behold, I am vile. What shall I answer
thee? I don't have an answer. I'm gonna
shut up. I will lay my hand upon my mouth. Once have I spoken. but I will not answer, yea, twice, but I will proceed no further.
And then the Lord proceeds to have at him again. Lord's not done with him yet.
Oh God, give us the grace to shut up, be still and know that
he's God. the problem with all the false
religion, the problem with those who try to be saved by their
own righteousness, the problem with those who question and deny
the truth of Christ's effectual atonement. Christ didn't do his
best to save everybody and then leave it up to them whether they'll
be saved or not. He redeemed somebody on that
cross, all whom he loved, all whom he chose, all that his father
gave him, John chapter 17. But the problem with all of it,
all of false religion, you can boil it down to this, they just
don't know who God is. If we ever find out who God is,
if God ever blasts us with the truth of who he is, we're gonna
bow, we're gonna shut up, we're gonna hear, as the Lord said
from heaven, this is my beloved son, hear him, hear him. And the truth will set you free. That's the single problem with
all the false religion. And it's not that they don't
know up here who God is. It's they refuse to glorify him
as God because they insist on being God. I'll decide, it's
all up to me. I'm the one with the free will.
You know, there can only be one free will in the universe. And it ain't yours. When a sinner sees the Lord Jesus
Christ high and lifted up on his throne.
Now you hear me, hear this sentence and remember it if you can. If you ever see the Lord Jesus
Christ on his throne, high and lifted up, then you'll know what
happened on the cross. But not until then. Not until then. That wasn't a
helpless victim hanging there. That was the sovereign of the
universe accomplishing the redemption of Jacob, whom he loved, and
all the rest that he loved from eternity. That wasn't an offer to sinners.
That was an offering unto God for the sins of his sheep. He said, I laid down my life
for my sheep, and I hope they decide for me. I lay down my
life for my sheep, and they shall never perish. No one for whom
Christ shed his precious blood will ever perish. He redeemed
them on Calvary. You can object to that, or if God decides to be merciful
to you, you'll bow at his feet and say,
Lord, if you will. That wasn't the providing of
a chance that took place on the cross, it was the finishing of
a work. The work of salvation for God's
people. The cross can only be viewed
by the light of the rainbow that surrounds the throne. the throne. And when you see the cross in
that throne light, all those who were ordained to
eternal life will believe. When he's preached high and lifted
up, all whom God ordained to eternal life will believe. That's
what God's up to right now. It's the reason that he has a
universe. Don't you ever, whatever you
do, don't you ever accept Jesus as your personal savior. He's
not up for your acceptance or your rejection. Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Amen, let's pray.