Verse 14, back in Romans 9, 14. What shall we say then? What
shall we say? And we'll see what it is we're
saying something to. But what shall we say about that?
Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. And the truth of the matter is
what sinners do say is that there is unrighteousness with God.
That's exactly what we say by nature. Paul says God forbid
here clearly because even to presume to pass judgment on God's
character is repulsive to him and it should be to us too. That's
why he says God forbid. To even consider the idea of
it, he did and we do because we see ourselves in this. We
see the wretched nature of man to do that very thing, to say
that there's unrighteousness with God. We would rather destroy
the character of God than to violate our own free will. We
say it's unfair for God to do this or that when it's him who is himself fairness and
righteousness. Things are right because he does
them. And we're the ones that are always wrong. But this being
this, just the idea of asking the question, is there unrighteousness
with God? was abhorrent to Paul, and so
he quickly says, God forbid. But this is exactly what people
do. It's very reminiscent of Satan's tactics in the garden, to question God's right to say and do what he will with
sinners, with his creatures, then, and sinners now. The devil's theme in Eden was
that it's not fair for God to withhold this wonderful thing
from you. And sinners, mantra ever since,
at every turn, when they hear the truth of God's sovereignty,
is to say that's not fair. Same thing was proposed in the
garden, was demanded in the garden, was impressed upon them in the
garden. God is sovereign. He says what you'll do and what
you won't do. He decides. And we didn't like that then
and we don't like that now by nature. That's not fair. For God to, verse 13, love. For God to love, to choose, to
save one sinner and despise, curse and punish another when
neither one had done anything to deserve either. It's not fair, that's not fair.
God's gonna have to do things a different way because we say
so. Is there a righteousness with
God? We say yes to that. When God presumes, when he said,
you're gonna see me sitting on the right hand of power after
this, they began to spit on him when he said that. That's our
response to the sovereignty of Christ. To say that man's sense of fairness
is selfish is an understatement. Selfish. What we think is fair
is what's good for us. If God had chosen to love every
sinner, then these naysayers would be fine with that. His
justice be damned. They wouldn't care whether God's
character was violated at all. It wouldn't make any difference
to them that justice wouldn't mean anything, as long as God
does things the way we would like to see him do. But notice
here, the first dagger in Paul's arsenal is to show that God never
promised anything else. God never promised anything else. If God had promised to save all
earthly Israel, When he truly hated and never
intended to save many of them, if not most of them, then there
would be, God forbid, unrighteousness with God. But he never promised
that. That's what he's saying here.
Look what he did say, verse 15. 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. You see what he's saying? Is
there unrighteousness with God? And he asked the question a little
bit earlier in the context there. Is the promise of God then of
none effect? Did God promise something and
not carry it out? No, because they're not all Israel
which are of Israel. You're thinking you're saved
because you're an Israelite. God never promised that. What
he did say is I'll have mercy on who I want to. That's what
he said. And in the context of God saying
this, verse 15, when he said this, as it's recorded in Exodus
32, Moses interceded for all of Israel after they had made
the golden calf, after this horrible idolatry. God had split the Red
Sea wide open and brought them over on dry land and drowned
all of their enemies. Unbelievable miracle. And yet
they made the golden calf and said, we wish we were back in
Egypt because, you know, we don't like the food here and all the,
you know, all the horrible wretchedness of the children of Israel, same
as us, they're just like us. But they had made that golden
calf and danced around that golden calf and said, these be our gods. And Moses interceded for the
people. Of course, first he drew a line,
didn't he? And then he interceded for the
people, and he said to God that if God would
not forgive the people of Israel, then he said, blot me out of
thy book which thou hast written. And please turn with me to Exodus
32, and let's look at some of this. I want us to see all of
the context of this. What is the significance here
of God saying to Moses, I'll have mercy on whom I will have
mercy? Look at the context, Exodus 32,
31. Exodus 32, 31. And Moses returned
unto the Lord after the golden calf incident, and Moses' anger against the children of Israel.
But he loved them by God's providence, and God put a heart in him of
an intercessor. And he said, oh, this people. How many times in the scripture
do you see that? Do you see emotion expressed? Oh, oh. This people have sinned a great
sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt
forgive their sin, and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of
thy book which thou hast written. And the Lord said unto Moses,
Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my
book. Pretty much what Paul said in
verse three of our chapter. You see, remember what he said
in 9.3? For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ
for my brethren, my kinsmen, according to the flesh. Not a
coincidence. Paul is dealing with this issue,
the same issue that's dealt with here in Exodus 32 and 33. Moses said, just blot me out
of thy book. If you won't have mercy on these
folks, then don't have mercy on me either. And he's saying
here, in effect, I'll have mercy on who I want to. Whoever sins
against me, that's who I'll blot out of my book. Well, we know
that Moses had already sinned against God many times. We saw
that at the burning bush. He defied God. God was angry
with Moses, it says there. His wrath was kindled against
Moses. He said, I'll go with you, you do what I say, instead
of making excuses, in fact, is what he said to him. So Moses
had sinned, but what he's clearly saying there is, we know from
Exodus 33, 17, turn over to Exodus 33. He says there that Moses found
grace. Moses found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. And he said, I know Moses by name. He's mine, I know
him by name. He found grace in my sight. According
to God's grace in Christ Jesus, those who are chosen in Christ,
redeemed by Christ, are not among those who have sinned against
God. God says those who have sinned against me, I'll block
them out of my book. But Moses wasn't one of those,
because he found grace in the Lord Jesus Christ. as all who
believe on him have. Finding grace in God's sight
means having been put in Christ by God, who has made unto us
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. You are not one
that has sinned against God if you're in Christ. So Moses is
asking God to save all of Israel. Have mercy on them, Lord. They
made gods out of gold and they danced around and they worshiped
and they acknowledged them as their gods after you saved them
from horrible bondage and oppression and death. They sinned a great
sin, Lord. Have mercy on them and if not,
don't have mercy on me either then. And God's reply is that he will
decide who gets mercy and who don't. That's our text. And then in
the next chapter, when Moses begs the Lord, show me thy glory,
here is God's answer to that. Verse 13 of Exodus 33, if you're
still there. Verse 13, now therefore I pray
thee, "'If I have found grace in thy sight, "'show me now thy
way. "'But I may know thee, but I may find grace in thy sight.'"
It reminds me of Paul when the Lord revealed himself to Saul
of Tarsus way before the Lord said, I'm gonna teach you, I'm
gonna send you. Here's what I'm gonna do with
you. That's what he said to him. And he knew the Lord that day
and then later, In Philippians chapter three, he said that I
may know him. Those who have found grace in God's sight, you
know what they want? Grace in God's sight. Those who
have the Lord Jesus Christ, they just want to know him more, they
just want more of the experience of his grace and his love and
his power. That I might know him in the
power, his life, the power of his life, of his resurrection,
the power of the one that says, I lay down my life and I take
my life again. God reveal us something of him. He said, if I found grace in your sight,
oh, that I might find grace in thy sight. And consider that
this nation is thy people. Verse 14, and he said, my presence
shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. And he said unto
him, if thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. I
don't want to go if God's not going with me. 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
earth 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. 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. Referring back to verse six of
our chapter, Romans nine, not as though the word of God hath
taken none effect, for they are not all Israel, which are of
Israel. Moses is saying this people is that people. And God
said, you've found grace in my sight. And so I'll do what you
ask. And I'll have mercy. You see
the context of chapter 32. I'll have mercy on whom I will
to. I'll decide who's blotted out of my book and who's not.
And I'll decide who gets mercy. God never promised eternal salvation
to earthly Israel. He did say, I'll save whom I
please. And taking that truth to its
further conclusion. You think Paul, he read the scripture,
he quoted the scripture. He said, God said, I'll have
mercy on whom I will. And so Paul brings that truth.
Simple as it can be, not complicated. The doctrine of election, it
simply is this, God is God. I'll do what I want to do. That wasn't hard to understand
a bit there in the Old Testament or the New, was it? And so Paul
makes the simple, statement unequivocally in the next verse, he tells us
what is not the basis of salvation and what is. With this simple
truth in mind that God is God, that salvation is of the Lord,
that it's not by man's decision, it's by God's decision, what
he showed Moses, what he said to Moses, shows us that. This is not some new doctrine.
It's not some cult thing. This is the truth of God from
the beginning. This has always been how sinners
are saved because God wants to save them. The way he does that
is by the gospel, and it always has been. But look at what he
says, so then, If God is God, if God is sovereign, then here's
what we know about the saving of a sinner. It's not of him
that willeth. He's already been as thorough
and clear as a bell that it's not of earthly heritage. It's
not about being born a Jew. He's been real clear and thorough
about that. So he doesn't even bring that
up again here. What he does mention here is all of the wrong ways
that sinners believe and falsely preach as to how sinners are
saved. It is not of him that will. If
what is the first thing you're gonna hear when you go into an
anti-Christ, freewill, man-centered, so-called synagogue of Satan,
a so-called church, which is just a synagogue of Satan, it's
all up to you. It's all up to you. What did we just read? What did
we just read in Exodus chapter 32 and 33? What did we see in
the garden? Thank God it wasn't up to Adam
and Eve. What was up to them was a disaster. What wasn't up
to them is God covering their sin. with the blood of an innocent
victim. God says as plain as it can be
said, it's not up to you. It is not of him that willeth. And the difference between the
truth and what religion teaches is not opinion, it's not doctrinal
disagreement, The difference is who is God. I want to make
that as clear as I can. People's problem is not that
they don't understand the doctrine of election. People's problem
is they don't know who God is and they have no excuse for that
because when he revealed himself as God, they refused to acknowledge
him as God. Who is God, you or him? Who is everything up to? That's the question answered
in our text. Who is everything? Who is? The reason for a world is the
saving of sinners. This thing of the salvation of
God's life, the reason God has a world, the reason there's a
universe, okay? The only reason there's a universe. Who is that up to? The reason. The salvation of sinners. Who's
that up to? when the whole universe hangs
upon it. Everything God's ever done or
said is for this reason. He's made a marriage for his
son. Who is that, who's he gonna leave,
who's that gonna hang on then? Who's the success of that gonna
hang upon? You are one that is mighty. Augustus' top lady said, a man's
free will cannot cure him even of a toothache or a sore finger,
and yet he madly thinks that it is in its power to cure his
soul. What is it that's not of him
that willeth? Boy, you wanna start arguing
with somebody, this would be a good place to start now, that
hates God. Somebody that just refuses to
acknowledge God as God and you just wanna stir up something
and start an argument, that'd be a good place to start. And
you know what they'll say? Well, that's not what he's talking
about. Let's answer the question then. What is it not of him that
willeth? What is not of him that willeth? Well, first of all, in the context,
who's in the book of life and who ain't? That's not of him
that willeth. Who's a child of God and who's
not? Verse seven. Who's a child of God and who's
not? Could that be what he's referring
to? When he says it's not of him
that willeth, that's what he's been talking about. Well, maybe
that's a stretch. Well, what about verse eight?
Who's included in the covenant? Who's included in God's covenant
of grace? It is not of him that willeth,
I'll tell you that. Maybe that's what he's talking about since
that's what he's been talking about. Think about this, the
power, the prerogative of giving of life, verse nine. It's not of him that willeth.
Who lives and who don't? It's not of him that willeth.
Who is elect and who is not? Verse 11. Look at 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. Who is the elect? It's not of
him that willeth. Who God loves and who God hates. Verse 13. It's not of him that willeth.
There's only one it that this it could be. It is not of him
that willeth. None of that, the decision, the
choice, the difference, life, salvation, love, even the very
love of God, it's not of him that willeth. Who gets mercy
and who don't? Verse 15. If you just want to
stick to the words right before those words, although all of
it, every bit of that is not of him that willeth. Who gets
mercy and who don't? It's not of him that willeth.
Now you tell me what else it is if it ain't those in that
text. None of that. is according to
the will of man. It ain't up to you. I wish I
could say that to every religious, lost, depraved, so-called free will, God-hating,
anti-Christ sinner in this world. It ain't up to you. Can you hear
how loudly that's proclaimed by God in these words? And in
that, where we read in the Old Testament, all through the book,
it ain't up to you. Nothing's up to you. It's not your business to accept
anything. Your business is to bow and believe. And you can't do that to a God
knocks your legs out from under you and gives you faith in his
son. It's not up to you. It's not of works lest any man
should boast. How complicated is that? And just since we just said the
word beg, is begging, is that too strong a word for you? I've
heard that it is, some people say that, that's too strong a
word. The Lord delights to show mercy. You don't have to beg
God for mercy. Our Lord says, ask and you will receive. Let
me ask you a question. When a man who has nothing and
no ability to get anything asks someone who is under no obligation,
in fact, has every reason to reject you, ought not to give
you anything. It's not meat to take the children's
bread and give it to a dog like you. You have nothing. You got no ability to get it.
You're asking somebody that ought to throw you in hell instead
of have a conversation with you at all. And you're asking him
for everything. Everything. What would you call
that? If begging is distasteful to
you in this matter, then you don't know who God is and you
don't know what you are. And we need his grace to understand
that. Those who bow and say that's
perfectly right, that God would choose. Those who say, bless
God, he hasn't left it up to me. You know who says that? A
mercy beggar. A beggar, a sinner, in other
words. A wretched, vile sinner. Turn with me please to Mark chapter
10. Mark chapter 10, verse 46. We're just gonna take this chapter
nine. I realize how the gospel is so
clear, so clear. People think Romans chapter nine
is like some deep, dark doctrine that should only be discussed
in theological seminars and things like that. But when Todd and
I preached this in Florida, I realized that's the gospel, that's the
good news. It's good news to a sinner that
God does as he pleases. It's good news to a sinner that
when Christ shed his precious blood, he saved everybody he
shed it for. It's good news to a sinner, what
a blessed gospel this is, the gospel of God. God introduced
himself to Abraham and said, Abraham, I am God almighty. And that's what needs to happen
for us. God needs to introduce himself to us in such a way that
we understand who God is. This book says, be still and
shut up and hear God, listen to the son of God. And may he
give us the grace to do that. Look at Mark 10, 46, and they
came to Jericho. And as the Lord Jesus went out
of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people,
blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side
begging. And when he heard that it was
Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, thou
son of David, Have mercy on me. And then he charged him that
he should hold his peace. Can you imagine? He was making
such a fuss, it was just annoying. Shut up. Ever wanted to say that to somebody? It's tongue-biting time sometimes,
isn't it? Just shut up. but he cried the more a great
deal. His business wasn't with them. And so he paid them no
mind and said, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood
still and commanded him to be called. And they called the blind
man, saying unto him, be of good comfort, rise, he calleth thee. And he casting away his garment, rose and came to Jesus. And Jesus
answered and said unto him, what wilt thou that I should do unto
thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive
my sight. And Jesus said unto him, go thy
way, thy faith hath made thee whole. and immediately he received
his sight and followed Jesus in the way. That's how sinners
are saved. So let's ask a couple of questions.
Did Bartimaeus' free will attract the Savior to that highway? Was it Zacchaeus' desperation
attracted the Lord, was the desperation of Bartimaeus' heart to cry all
the more a great deal. Was that some virtue in him that
merited Christ's mercy? Or is it blessed are they that
hunger and thirst after righteousness? Whether or not this blind man
would ever see, who was that up to in this story? The faith that our Lord said
made Bartimaeus whole. Where does that come from? Simple questions with simple
answers. Salvation is of the Lord. He doth put a difference between
this world and his sheep. The difference is his love, his
eternal love, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. If God ever gives us a glimpse
of who he is and what we've done, we will
bow And we'll beg. Lord, if you will, you can make
me clean. If you will. Whose will is this
whole matter hanging on? Who's it up to? The leper said,
Lord, it's up to you. Is that not what he said? It's
up to you. It's up to you. And the Lord says, I will, I
will, I will. That's how sinners are clean,
I will. And may God give us grace to
bow to him in our hearts and beg him for mercy. Ask, ask and
you'll receive. But what are you doing when a
man asks for glory and eternity who has nothing
and can do nothing for himself? And he's asking a God who ought
to put him in hell. That's the definition of begging.
And may God make every one of us mercy beggars. And be thankful, rejoice in the
truth that salvation is of the Lord. Who's it up to? I think
Paul answered that question, don't you? God answered that
question. And we say, Amen. Amen. Let's pray.