Let's go back to Romans chapter
9. Our subject this morning is God's
free and sovereign grace. We use adjectives to describe
grace. Really, grace needs no adjectives,
but we say things like free grace. That's sort of redundant because
all grace is free. It's not of us, it's free. We
say things like sovereign grace, and since God's grace is of God's
will alone, it's always sovereign grace. We really don't have to
say those things, but when God elected a people unto salvation
before the foundation of the world, it was not because of
anything in His people. And it was not because of anything
in those He passed by. It was simply God's free and
sovereign electing grace. Verse 10 tells us that these
two boys in Rebekah's womb were conceived by one father. They had the same parents. Verse
11 tells us that they were not yet born, neither had they done
any good or evil. And the purpose of that is so
that We understand that election and salvation is not of works
but of God that calleth. Here you have these twins in
the womb and God comes to their mother and says, Jacob have I
loved, Jacob have I chosen, Jacob shall I save. But Esau have I
hated. This one who would be born first. This one who normally would receive
the birthright and the blessings of the birthright. God said I've
hated him. Meaning I've had absolutely no
regard to him whatsoever. It's the same word that's used
over there when the Lord tells us if any man follow me and he
hate not his father and his mother, his son, his daughter. He's not
telling you and I to hate our father and mother with a positive
hatred. He's saying when it comes between
Christ and them, give them no regard. Follow Christ, give Him
your only affection and give your loved ones no affection,
no regard whatsoever when it comes to following Christ. And
that's what this word hate means. God didn't have any regard to
Esau whatsoever. He left Esau in His depraved
will. He left Him there. Election as
well as all salvation is not something God saw in us. It's
not of something God saw in us. It's of God that calleth. It's
of God that calleth. Before the world was made, God
the Father chose who He would save simply according to His
grace. And He gave us to His Son And
we've been safe in that refuge in the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. And He came forth and He redeemed
us and paid all the debt we owe, brought in an everlasting righteousness
for us, and then God's going to bring each one under the Gospel. And the Spirit of God will give
us life and He will call you to faith in Christ, and God will
keep His people and he won't lose one. Now I'm going to tell
you something. That's the best news. That's
the greatest news a sinner can ever hear. But only if you have
been made to know you're a sinner. It's not good news until then.
Until God makes you know that you truly are a sinner. One of
the things that I love about God's Word is He raises the objection
that He knows sinners are going to make. And then He answers
the objection. I want this morning just to look
at one of those objections. Right here in verse 14. The first
objection is that God is unrighteous. When men hear that God chooses
whom He will, passes by whom He will, men say, well that's
not fair. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? Here's the answer, the first answer. God forbid. God forbid. God is right to do as God will. It's not only right, God not
only does what's right, it's right because God does it. That's
the only thing He does is righteousness. That's who God is. So let's look
at this objection a little while. Spiritually dead sinners, they
object to God's sovereign electing grace, charging God with unrighteousness. Charging holy God with unrighteousness. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? God forbid. If there was a death
row somewhere, And there were these rapists
and these murderers on death row. And somehow you could give
your child to take their place in such a real way that you could
absolve all their crimes. And you could bring in a positive
righteousness for them. And you could answer all of justice
demands for them. If somehow you could do that,
Would you be unrighteous if you only chose to do it for some
and not for all? You're not responsible for their
crimes. You're not the one who made them to be guilty. So it's
not unrighteous if you chose some to save and didn't choose
the others. That's not unrighteousness at
all. Be sure to get this. God does all things in perfect
righteousness. God does all things in perfect
righteousness. Now I want you to be careful
on this doctrine of election. And I want you to understand
it correctly. God passing by some, God passing
by some, does not mean that God arbitrarily, without a cause,
condemned men to hell. And God choosing some, God choosing
some of His people does not mean that God arbitrarily, without
a cause, chose us to salvation. Now understand what I'm saying,
there was nothing in us. to make God choose us or to make
God pass by those He passed by. There was nothing in us to do
that. But when God chooses to save and when He passes by, He
does that in righteousness because God is righteous. Let me explain
what I mean. Those that God passed by sinned
against God in the garden just like all men did. They sinned
against God in the garden. And they did that of themselves.
God didn't make us sin. Adam sinned of himself. God's
not to blame for their crimes. The wages earned by a sinner
is death. By sin, by his own sin, he earns
that wage. Our Lord Jesus said, God said,
The soul that sinneth, it shall surely die. We're told in the
Scriptures that the reason God reprobates men is because they
receive not the love of the truth. That's a necessity, brethren,
because God is righteous. God does not just arbitrarily,
without a cause and a sinner, send a sinner to hell. He's got
to earn it. And those that go to hell earn
it. And that's why God gives them the wages that's due to
them. And those that God elected unto
salvation, it's the same principle. We owed a sin debt to God's justice. We died in the garden and we
owed a sin debt to God's justice. We owed God a perfect righteousness. Neither of these we could provide.
But that's why we're told God elected us unto salvation in
His Son, according as He chose us in Christ. That's why He did
that. Choosing us in Christ, God provided
a Savior before as yet we ever sinned. And not choosing some in Christ,
God left them to their own will before as yet they ever sinned.
And so God's salvation is righteous because Christ came and worked
out a righteousness for all His people. And God's condemnation
is righteous because the sinner earns that condemnation by his
sin. Now, if we say that God condemned
sinners with no regard to justice, simply because He is sovereign,
well that's the same as saying God saves with no regard to justice,
simply because He's sovereign. And neither one of those are
true. The Queen of England is sovereign. She's sovereign. But she cannot condemn anybody
to prison without a cause in them. No condemnation is a matter of
sovereignty. It's not. It's a matter of righteousness. I went to buy a puppy for our
family and when I got there, there was two little puppies,
Peanut and this other little female. And I had the sovereign
right to choose which one of those little puppies I wanted
to take home. And I chose Peanut. But there
was a price on that dog. And I had to pay that price to
bring that dog home. Sovereignty wouldn't allow me
just to pick him out and bring him home. It wasn't a matter
of sovereignty, it was a matter of righteousness. I had to pay
what I owed to be able to bring him home. And that's the same
with God. God doesn't arbitrarily send
men to hell and He doesn't arbitrarily save men. There has to be a righteous
cause. And that righteous cause for
salvation is Christ. And that righteous cause for
condemnation is the sinner and his sin. So when we read this,
what shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? God forbid. He does this righteous. But,
here's my second point to you. Usually those who scream unfair,
this is what they mean. They mean it's unfair that God
chose some and didn't choose all. That's what they mean by
it. That God chose some and didn't choose all. I'm sure you've heard
that argument. You declare the doctrine of election
to somebody and that's the first thing they say, that's not fair.
That's not fair. God ought to give everybody a
chance. Well, salvation's not by chance. Salvation's ordered
and sure in all things. God ordered it from before the
foundation. But here's the thing about it,
brethren. Those that God passed by, they do not want salvation
on God's terms, God's way. You and I didn't. We didn't want
it on God's terms. We didn't want salvation. We
wanted to be saved from hell, but we didn't want salvation
on God's terms, God's way. So it's not unrighteous for God
to withhold from somebody that which they don't even want to
begin with. That's not unrighteous. What
do men always say they want? They want their free will. Well,
that's what God gave some. He gave them their free will.
He let them... Their will is not free. Their will is bound
to their sin nature. And all they can do is sin because
they have a sinful nature. But God left them to it. You
want to be left to your will? God will leave you to your will.
But some, He won't leave us to our will. Christ will come in
great power. He'll make us willing in the
day of His power. The purpose of election, brethren,
is to teach the elect that our election, like all of our salvation,
is not by our will and not by our works. It's by God's grace. Read there verse 15. For he said
to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I
will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. We just
sang, or Melinda and Sarah just played, He hideth my soul in
the cleft of the rock. And that's when God said this
to Moses. He showed Moses His glory. This is His very glory. He said,
I will choose whom I will choose and I'll pass by whom I will
pass by. That's God's glory to do that. His very glory. Look at verse
16. Here's the conclusion. So then,
it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but
of God that showeth mercy. That should be so clear. That's
why Scripture calls rebellion against God willful rebellion. Because the Scriptures are plain
and clear. It's not of him that willeth.
It's not of him that runneth. It's of God that showeth mercy. Now, think about this. The scriptures
tell us that it was Isaac's will, Isaac's the father of these two
boys, Jacob and Esau, and it was Isaac's will that Esau have
the birthright. He wanted Esau to have it, and
he wanted Esau to have all the blessings that went with it.
But Rachel, their mother, it was her will that Jacob have
it. She wanted Jacob to have the
blessing. Well Esau, he had sold it to begin with, sold the birthright,
but then later he wanted it back. It was his will to have it for
himself and he sought it with tears, Scripture said. And Jacob,
it was his will to have the blessing and the birthright for himself
as well. And he went to conniving and
using trickery to fool his father and get the blessing. But in
spite of all that willingness from everybody involved, God
says the reason Jacob got it was not of any of them that willed. It was not any of them that run.
It was not their conniving and their scheming trying to get
it. It was not of that. It was because
God said, Jacob have I loved. That's why. That's why. Now let's look here at God's
illustration of His sovereign power. He demonstrates it in
Pharaoh. He says in verse 17, For the
Scripture saith unto Pharaoh, that is, God saith unto Pharaoh,
Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up. God said, I've
raised thee up that I might show my power in thee. and that my
name might be declared throughout all the earth. This was God's
eternal purpose. This was that purpose of God
that never changes. It can't be changed. God purposed
in eternity. He ordained from the beginning
of the world to raise up Pharaoh. and make him the most powerful
man in the world with the most powerful army in the world. That's
the place that God raised Pharaoh up to. All the while that Pharaoh
was coming up in his career and he thought that he was opening
all these doors for himself, God was the one that did it.
He thought all his political maneuvering was working out and
he was so smart to put himself in position and raise himself
up. God was the one who did it. And there was a purpose. God
did it to show His power. He did it to show His name. He
did it to have mercy on whom He'll have mercy and to pass
by whom He will. Now listen to what Scripture
says of Pharaoh. Pharaoh was a wise man as far
as men go. You can't rule that big of a
nation and not be wise as far as men are concerned. But spiritually,
he was totally dead and totally ignorant. And God sent the gospel
to Pharaoh and said, I'm going to deliver my people. Well, you
would think that would make Pharaoh fall down on his face before
God and beg God for mercy. And he did at a few points. He
did ask God for mercy. When he saw the plague, he would
ask for mercy. But listen to this. When Pharaoh
saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders were ceased,
he sinned yet more and hardened his heart, he and his servants. Pharaoh hardened his own heart.
You see, All God has to do to harden a man's heart is just
leave him alone. And he hardened his own heart.
Now, God did that so that there would be all this opposition
from Pharaoh, this most powerful man and this most powerful army. God raised them up so that there
would be this fierce opposition to God and to His salvation. He raised them up for that very
purpose. And then God drowned Pharaoh
and his army in the Red Sea. And in the face of all that opposition,
saved his people and brought them out. And you know who that
one was that did the saving? You know who the one was that
appeared to Moses in the burning bush? That was the pre-incarnate
Christ is who that was. He was the one that worked all
that. And the reason he did it, God said, is to declare my power
and to declare my name. Go to Philippians 2. Here's why God did it right here.
Philippians 2. He did it to show this right
here. Verse 9, God also hath highly
exalted Christ, given Him a name which is above every name. Above every name. that at the
name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, things
in earth, things under the earth, that every tongue shall confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. That's why God raised up Pharaoh,
that great, strong, powerful opposition, and then saved his
people despite that opposition. He did it to show us that God
chose his people in Christ Jesus. And then God Himself raised up
the devil. That wasn't out of God's power.
God Himself permitted the devil to sin against God and abide
not in the truth and God cast him out of hell so that there
would be a great fiend, a great opposition against God and against
His people. And the devil and all his seed,
all his children, The reprobate are against God and against His
Savior. And yet Christ came forth and
there's not an enemy one that could triumph over our Lord Jesus
Christ. Not one. Not one. Not the devil. Christ crushed his head on the
cross when he took away all the sin of his people. Not the law. Christ fulfilled it in perfect
righteousness. Not our sin. Christ put away
our sin. Not the sinner. The sinner can't
frustrate Christ. Christ conquers every one of
his redeemed in the heart. He comes like what brother Ben
preached this morning. He comes with the gospel and
he makes the walls fall down. And he enters in and he saves
his harlots. He said the gates of hell shall
not prevail against my gospel. Not the trial. The trial that
comes, it won't make God's child walk away from the gospel. It
won't make him walk away from Christ. Christ is in control
of the trial. He gives the trial just to purge
our dross and to purify the gold. Not death, not the grave. That's
the last enemy, Scripture says. But Christ has so thoroughly
saved His people, He's going to raise even our bodies from
the dead and resurrect us into glory out of the grave, totally
new in soul and spirit, spirit and body. And we're going to
worship God forever. You see how good a news this
is that God chose His people in Christ? There's no... We're more than conquerors through
Him that loved us. There's nobody that can conquer
Christ. Nobody. So here's the conclusion,
brethren. Verse 18. Therefore hath He mercy
on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will, He hardeneth. Blessed God, He has mercy on
some. You know, when you were a sinner,
with your enmity and your heart against God, you hated the message
of election. I did too, I hated it. But here's the thing, when God
made you to see what a ruined, totally helpless sinner you are,
the greatest news you heard was that God chose you before the
foundation of the world. Because then you found out, if
He hadn't chosen me, I would not have chosen Him. And that
becomes good news. And when you find out that grace,
it was by grace, not because of anything in you. It was because
of grace. That's the greatest news you
can hear. Because since it's by grace, there's nothing I can
do to change it. Nothing. I can't send away grace,
and you can't either. That's good news when you know
you're a sinner. And that doesn't make you want
to sin, that makes you want to live for Christ. Because you
see what He's done for you. Freely. Sovereignly. And men
and women who are born into this world are spiritually dead, so
the only thing that a sinner can do is harden his heart, and
if God leaves a man to himself, he'll harden his heart. And God
will harden his heart. Both are given in the Scripture.
If a man will not believe, God will make it so he cannot believe
fully. Turn him over to reprobation.
But it's always just because they receive not the love of
the truth. Go to Isaiah 65. Let me show you this one more
time. I've showed you this before. Isaiah 65. Verse 7, He said to some in Israel,
Your iniquities and the iniquities of your fathers together, saith
the Lord, which have burned incense upon the mountains and blasphemed
Me upon the hills, therefore, that means for this cause, therefore
will I measure their former work into their bosom. Thus saith
the Lord, as the new wine is found in the cluster, And one
saith, Destroy it not, for a blessing is in it. So will I do for my
servants' sakes, that I may not destroy them all. And I will
bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah, an inheritor
of my mountains. And mine elect shall inherit
it, and my servants shall dwell there. And Sharon shall be a
fold of flocks, and a valley of acre, a place for the herds
to lie down in, for my people that have sought me. But you
are they that forsake the Lord, that forget my holy mountain,
that prepare a table for that troop, that furnish the drink
offering under that number. Therefore will I number you to
the sword. You see, it's always a just cause
with God. Always. God is not unrighteous
to pass by some. And He's not unrighteous to choose
some. It's of grace that He chooses
and it's in righteousness that He condemns. You understand that? I hope you get that. I hate to
hear men blaspheme God by saying that He just arbitrarily, without
a cause, predestinated men to hell. There's always a cause
in it because God's righteous. You understand that? His chief
attribute is holiness. Therefore, His sovereignty is
holy sovereignty. Who He chooses, it's righteous.
Whom He condemns, it's righteous. I hope that's clear to you. Be
sure to get this now. If God saves me, He will be just
in doing it. And if God damns me, He will
be equally just in doing it. You understand? If we're saved,
it's by God's grace and He gets all the praise and all the glory.
But if we're damned, it's nobody's fault but our own. It's not God's
fault, it's our own fault. I hope that's clear to you. Let's
stand together. Our Father, we thank You for
this day and thank You for the messages. Thank You for the ability
to hear spiritually and the ability to worship You. Lord, we're so
thankful for what You've given us. Free righteousness, free
justification, free holiness. You've given us free liberty. Lord, keep us. We ask You to
keep us. Keep us ever looking to Christ
only. It's in His precious holy name that we pray. Amen.