Our text this morning will be
in Jeremiah chapter 18. Jeremiah chapter 18. Before we actually read the text,
I'd like to make just a a few statements by means of kind of
introduction into this, and we'll actually look at actually one
passage before we get into Jeremiah, but I want to make a couple of
statements, or one statement in particular, and that is this,
is that God is sovereign, sovereign, absolutely, completely sovereign. And what do we mean when we say
that God is sovereign? That is, proclaimed by the grace
of God in this pulpit every Sunday and every Wednesday that God
is sovereign. And we use the word of God, don't
we? Everything we say is this, and
only the word of God. And interestingly enough, the
word sovereign is not found in the King James Version. Nowhere
in the King James Version will you find the word sovereign. However, from beginning to end,
the sovereignty of God is declared in this book. In the beginning,
God created the heaven and the earth. He said at the end of
Revelation, Alpha and Omega, the end and the beginning, the
first and the last. And throughout the whole entire
Word of God, and especially as we've gone through Isaiah, how
many times have we seen, I am the Lord and there is none else. In every example, in every story,
the sovereignty of God is declared. The Exodus, the sovereignty of
God. We see it all through. Jericho,
the sovereignty of God. We see it. And to say that God
is sovereign is to declare what the Word of God declares, and
that is that God is God. He is the only potentate. The
word potentate is mighty and of great authority. He is the
only potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords. God Almighty
who sits on the throne of heaven is absolutely sovereign. He is God. He's God. He does what He will, with whom
He will, when and however He wills. He made all things. He is the cause of all things.
He determines all things. He causes all things to come
to pass. The truth concerning the sovereignty of God is not
complicated. It's not complicated. It's not beyond our understanding. It's not too deep or mysterious
that we can't naturally comprehend it. Men understand the truth
concerning the sovereignty of God, but the reason it is not
preached in every pulpit and the reason it is not received
by man is because man by nature hates God. And that's the reason
why. He despises the sovereign God
of heaven and earth. We read in Romans, Paul said
this, he said, the invisible things of him, the invisible
things of God from the creation of the world are clearly understood.
You look outside at the stars, the sun, the trees, the grass,
everything from the creation of the world. Even his eternal
power and Godhead are clearly seen so that they, man, all of
us, are without excuse. And he said that because when
they knew God, They know, we know who God is. We know him
by his power and his Godhead. We know those two things. And
Paul said they're clearly revealed from the creation of the world.
Every man understands that. But when they knew God, they
glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain
in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened. and
professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and they changed
the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to
corruptible man. That's our problem. In our hearts,
man by nature wants to be God. Now let me be clear. No one,
no one can or will be saved apart from the revelation of God by
the preaching of the gospel and the power of the spirit. Okay?
The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Faith cometh
by hearing and hearing comes by the word of God. The sovereignty
of God and salvation is only revealed in his word and is only
accomplished by the preaching of the gospel where God the Holy
Spirit shines the light of the truth into our hearts. but his
power and his Godhead are clearly seen. And man is without excuse,
without excuse. We read in Job, it says, therefore
they say unto God, depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge
of their ways. And God Almighty says his ways
are not our ways. What is the Almighty that we
should serve him? And what profit should we have if we pray unto
him? David said in Psalm 14, the fool has said in his heart,
no God. And that's what our, by nature,
that's what we do. Everything is no God, no God. We are, the natural mind is at
enmity with God, at hatred. How is the sovereignty of God
declared in the Word of God? What does God, how is His sovereignty
described? David said in Psalm 103, the
Lord has prepared His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom
ruleth over all. His throne's in the heavens.
He said in Psalm 115, our God is in the heavens, and he's done
whatsoever he pleased. And that's what a sovereign God
does, whatever he pleases, right? But where is the sovereign God?
He's on a throne in heaven. We read in Daniel chapter 4.
He said, at the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up
mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me.
And that's where our understanding is going to come, isn't it? When
we lift our eyes up into heaven. That's when our understanding
of God is pleased to give us understanding, that's where it's
gonna come from. And I bless the Most High, and I praise and
honor him that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting
dominion. 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
the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand and
say unto him, what doeth thou? He's God. He's sovereign. God
is sovereign. And this is clearly seen in creation
and declared in his word. And in this morning in particular,
I want us to see briefly the sovereignty of God in the salvation
of sinners. Look at Jeremiah 18. We'll begin
in verse 1. The word which came unto Jeremiah
from the Lord saying, Arise, and go down to the potter's house,
and there will I cause thee to hear my words." Where are we
going to hear the words of God? The potter's house, right? I ask you, where are we this
morning? By the grace of God, we're at
the potter's house. Then I went down to the potter's
house, and behold, he brought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of
clay was marred. And where was it marred? It was
marred in the hand of the potter. So he made it again, another
vessel. How did he make it? He made it
as seemed good to the potter to make it. Then the word of
the Lord came to me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do
with you as this potter, saith the Lord, Behold, as the clay
is in the potter's hand, so are ye in my hand, O house of Israel."
Now, if you ever want to see the complete, vile, dark, and
deep hatred of natural man for God, you're going to see it right
here in How God Saves Sins. Many, many will say that they
believe that God created the world. Many will say that they
believe that God does control things. If you need something
and you pray for it, then God has the power to give it to you. But when it comes to the sovereignty
of God and salvation, when you want to see man's hatred for
God, that's where it really, that's when the water begins
to boil. Because you see here, man's pride
is attacked. Here, man's free will is defeated. Here, man's power is destroyed. And here, man's worth and condition
is revealed. We're just clay, just clay in
the potter's hand. That's all we are. All of mankind
is nothing but clay in the potter's hand, and he does whatsoever
he pleases with it. As our Lord Jesus Christ walked
on this earth, many followed him. Multitudes followed him. Many declared him to be a prophet.
Many, when they walked up to him, they called him master.
They called him good. Many marveled at his word. He
spoke as one that had authority. They were amazed at his miracles.
They said, never has a man done this. But when he declared himself
to be the Christ, the son of the living God, their hatred
showed forth, and they constantly sought to kill him from the very
beginning. When he walked into that synagogue
and he opened up Isaiah chapter 61, read that passage to him,
and then declared unto him that that day was fulfilled in their
ears, the first thing they wanted to do was throw him off the cliff.
When he declared unto them that he came down from heaven to do
the work of his father, that salvation is the work of God
alone, and that no man could come unto him unless God the
Father draw him, they said unto him, that is a harsh saying,
a hard saying. That word harsh, hard, means
offensive. It offended their pride. It offended
their religious pedigree. And they went back and walked
with him no more. And that's when our Lord asked
his disciples, he said, are you going to go away also? Isaiah said, woe unto him that
striveth with his maker. Let the pot sherds strive with
the pot sherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that
fashioneth it, what makest thou? or thy work, he hath no hands. God is sovereign in salvation.
He's sovereign in the salvation of sinners. And I want us to
see a few things in the word of God concerning this. Turn
to, turn to Romans chapter, actually turn to Ephesians chapter one
real quick. We'll probably only get through a couple of these. Ephesians chapter 1. Paul wrote, Paul, an apostle
of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, to the saints which are
at Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus, grace be to
you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Blessed, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us with all spiritual placings in the heavenly places
in Christ. The Lord God Almighty blessed
us with all spiritual blessings where? In Christ. Everything
is in Christ. According, according, as he has
chosen us in him. Election salvation or salvation
is according to the election of God the father. All right
According as he has chosen us in him when before the foundation
of the world That to what purpose that we should be holy and without
blame before him in love having predestinated us predetermined
unto the adoption of children how by Jesus Christ to himself
according to what the good pleasure of his will that's why he did
it he saw he chose us in Christ Jesus predestinated us according
to the good pleasure of his will all right now hold your hand
there in Ephesians chapter 1 look over at Romans chapter 9 because
we're going to come back to Ephesians Romans chapter nine and verse
11. All right, for the children being
not yet born, when was election done? When did he choose in Christ
before the foundation of the world, right? The children being
not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the
purpose the purpose of God according to election might stand not of
works but of him that calleth all right it's not of works it's
of God that calleth and how does he call he calls by the preaching
of his gospel right he calls by the effectual power of the
Holy Spirit the Holy Spirit is sovereign in that work in the
work of a calling the sower goes out and sows a seed right It
was said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger. As it
is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. God doesn't love everybody. That's
what religion would have you believe, that God loves everybody. God clearly stated in his word,
Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated. But what shall we say
then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? God forbid. See, man comes up with objections,
don't they? The fool has said in his heart,
no God. For he saith unto 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's not of him that
willeth. But I thought man had a free will. I thought man could
choose "'It's not of him that willeth.'" Yeah, man does have
a will, and it's violent, it's corrupt, and it's evil. "'It's
not of him that runneth.'" Well, I thought you could make a decision.
I thought as long as your good works outweigh your bad. "'It's
not 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. Why did
God raise up Pharaoh? To destroy him, to bring him
down, to show unto them that there is no other God. God said
unto, he said that I'm going to show that there's a difference
between my people and the Egyptians. I've heard their cry. I'm going
to come down and save them. And he raised up Pharaoh to show
his power. That's the only reason Pharaoh
existed, was for God to destroy him, and to make his power known.
That I might show my power in thee, and that my name might
be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore he has mercy
on whom he'll have mercy, and whom he will, he hardeneth. Thou
wilt say unto me, why does he yet find fault? For who has resisted
his will? Again, man objects. Nay, O man,
who art thou that thou reply'st against God? Shall the thing
formed say unto 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? Where
are we at this morning? In the potter's house. and he's
working a work on the wheel, and that clay's in his hand,
and that clay was marred in the hands of the potter, and so he
made the clay as he chose it, as he wanted to make it. One
vessel under honor, one vessel under dishonor. What if God,
willing to show his wrath and to make his power known, 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 which he aforeprepared unto glory. God the Father is
sovereign. He chose a people, chose a people
in Christ before the foundation of the world, that they should
be holy and without blame before him in love, who were predestinated
to be conformed to the image of his Son. God the Father is
sovereign in his work of salvation, and the Lord Jesus Christ is
sovereign in his work of salvation. The salvation of God's elect
is only in, by, and through Christ alone. The Lord Jesus Christ
is sovereign in the salvation of sinners. The death of Christ
on the cross was not an accident. It was not an accident. Peter
plainly declared, Christ was delivered, how? By the determinant,
counsel, and foreknowledge of God. He was a lamb slain before
the foundation of the world. He came into the world to save
sinners. God so loved the world that he
sent his only begotten son. He offered himself. He laid his
life down. And he declared in John chapter
17 that he finished the work. When the Lord Jesus Christ suffered
and shed his blood on the cross of Calvary, he accomplished the
salvation of all those whom the Father loved and chosen him and
gave to him. Okay, back at Ephesians 1 real
quick. There's two passages I do want
to get to. All right, Ephesians 1. Let's read verse 5 again. Having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
himself, according to the good pleasure of his will. Remember,
God the Father chose us. God the Son came down to this
earth, accomplished our redemption, our justification. He established
the righteousness. He died for our sins, rose again
and is now sitting on the throne of heaven. to the good pleasure
of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein
He made us accepted in the Beloved. Right? Of God are ye in Christ
Jesus, who has made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
redemption. Why? That no flesh should glory in His sight. In
whom? In Christ we have redemption.
How? Through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. According to what? The
riches of His grace. wherein he abounded toward us
in all wisdom and prudence, having known unto us the mystery of
his will. How do we know the truth? How
do we know the gospel? How do we know these things?
God the Spirit, God the Holy Spirit reveals these things unto
us. The scripture says, it's the
spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profits nothing. The wind blows
where it lisses, the Lord told Nicodemus, and so does the spirit.
When the word goes forth, the spirit goes forth by power and
shines the gospel into our hearts. And that's how we know this.
And how do we, or he said, according to his good pleasure, which he
purposed in himself. I mean, that's sovereignty right
there, isn't it? His pleasure, which he purposed
in himself, and he does what he wants. He does what he wills. That in the dispensation of the
fullness of times, he might gather together in one all things were
in Christ, both of which are in heaven and earth, even in
him. In whom? In him also we have
obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to what?
The purpose of him. who worketh all things after
the counsel of his own will, he's sovereign, that we should
be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ,
in whom he also trusted after that ye heard the word of truth,
the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that ye believed
you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, he seals us,
and I can rest secured in that seal because he's sovereign.
which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased
possession, but to the praise of his glory. Wherein I also,
after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and love
unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making
mention of you in our prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit
of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of him. in the
eyes of your understanding being enlightened that you might know
what is the hope what is the hope it's a sure hope it's a
steadfast hope of his calling and what the riches of the glory
of his inheritance in the saints we'll look at one more passage
i wanted to read the rest of that but i want to get to one
more Look at Romans chapter 8. We'll
end with this, Romans chapter 8. God Almighty is sovereign and
he's sovereign in the salvation of sinners. Man by nature, man
by nature is going to shake his fist Man by nature is going to
harden his neck, and he's going to turn his back, and he's going
to say, no God. Man despises the truth, the truth. It's not a doctrine, it's the
truth regarding the sovereignty of God and the salvation of sinners. But for a sinner, for a helpless,
hellbound, undeserving sinner, The sovereignty of God and the
salvation of sinners is the most glorious, wonderful, and blessed
truth. Romans chapter eight, look at
verse 29. For whom he did foreknow, he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom
he did predestinate, them he called. And whom he called, he
justified. And whom he justified, he glorified. What shall we, we, the children
of God, those chosen by God in Christ before the foundation
of the world, what shall we then say to these things? If God before
us, who can be against us? Who can be against us? He that
spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all. How shall
he not all with him also freely give us all things? You know
why he gives us all things? Because all things belong to
him. He's God. He's blessed us with all spiritual
blessings. Everything belongs to him. Who
shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? A God that loves everyone? But
then there are those that are in hell right now that he loved. Someone laid something in their
charge, if that's the case, if that's the God that they serve.
You look at Zachariah. I believe it was Joshua. Joshua was standing before the
Lord. Satan himself was there laying a charge. Who's going
to lay a charge to us? It's God to justify. Who is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again. Who is even
at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Tribulation,
distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword, no.
As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long.
We are counted as sheep for the slaughter. But nay, in all these
things we are more than conquerors. How? Through him that loved us. For I am persuaded. And why am
I persuaded? Why are we persuaded this morning? Each and every one of us, why
are we persuaded? Because God is sovereign. He
sits on the throne. Because of everything, I've read
more than I spoke today. Because nothing preaches like
the word. Neither death, nor life, nor
angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor
things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature
shall be able to separate us from the love of God." Where
is the love of God? In Christ Jesus. In Christ Jesus. Our Lord. Lord. Our Sovereign. I can rest there. I can find
comfort there. And that's where I want to be.
I want to be in Him. I want to be in the ark. I want
to be in the ark. Let's pray.