Let's turn to Romans 9. Romans 9. Last Sunday morning,
we looked at verses 13 to 16. And we began by asking this question,
does God hate Look at verse 13. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. Does God hate? And by going through the scriptures,
we saw that God does hate. In Psalm 5, he said he hates
all workers of iniquity. And in Psalm 11, he said he hates
the wicked in him that loveth violence. Proverbs 6 said, These
six things doth the Lord hate. Seven is an abomination. So then
our question changed. We asked this question. Does
God love? Does He love? All have sinned. All are wicked. All are full
of the things that the Lord hates. Full of them. So the question
is not, how could he hate Esau? That's not the question. The
question is, how could he love Jacob? How on this earth could
he love Jacob? And here's the answer. Christ. Christ. God hated us in Christ. And God loves Christ in us. Is that not wonderful? God hated
us in Christ, and God loves Christ in us. That's the only thing
that He loves about me, is Christ in me. You know that? That's
the only thing. Well, look at verse 14. It says,
What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will
have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. I saw a sign the other day that
said, let go, then let God. No thanks. No thanks. He will work, and
who shall let it? Verse 17 says, for the scripture
saith unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised
thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name
might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath
he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will, he hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, why
doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
Nay, but O man, who art thou that replyest against God? Shall
the thing formed say to 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? Now each of those five verses
we just read, each one of them all say something that causes
us to have to ask this question. We have to ask this question.
Does God elect men and women to hell? Does God elect men and women
to hell? This whole chapter is talking about election. Right? God's sovereign election. It says God elected a people
to be in Christ, to live with Him eternally in glory. That's
what God elected. Does God elect men and women
to hell? The opposite. The others. To
live eternally separated from Him in death. Does God choose
people to that? Look at verse 11. for the children
being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil. Before men and women were ever
even born and had done any good or evil, did the counsel of God
take one and say, what do you want to do with this one? Send him to hell. Did God elect men and women to
hell? Now, just like last week, we're
going to go heavily through this Word. Heavily, heavily. This
is a Word-filled morning. I'm happy to say, may the Lord
prepare us for this. And we're going to see what He
has to say about this subject, and we are not going to accept
our own opinions on the matter, okay? First of all, let's look
at our God, and then let's look at us. Turn with me over to Job
34. Job 34 verse 1 says, Furthermore, Elihu answered and
said, Hear my words, O ye wise men, and give ear unto me, ye
that have knowledge. For the ear trieth words, as
the mouth tasteth meat. Let us choose to us judgment. Let us know among ourselves what
is good. Now look at verse 10. Therefore hearken unto me, ye
men of understanding. Far be it from God that he should
do wickedness. And from the Almighty that he
should commit iniquity. For the work of a man shall he
render unto him, and cause every man to find according to his
ways. Yea, surely God will not do wickedly,
neither will the Almighty pervert judgment. God is holy. And what that means is he must
do right. That's what it means. He must
do what's good and he must do what's right. Now turn with me
to Job 8. Verse 3 says, Doth God pervert judgment, or
doth the Almighty pervert justice? Send him to hell. Why? No particular reason. Doth God pervert judgment, or
doth the Almighty pervert justice? Look at verse 6. If thou wert
pure and upright, surely now he would awake for thee. and
make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous." He would have to.
He would have to. He's the holy judge. He'd have
to. All right, now go to Deuteronomy
32. Deuteronomy 32 verse 1 says,
Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak. And hear, O earth, the
words of my mouth. My doctrine shall drop as the
rain. My speech shall distill as the
dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers
upon the grass. Because I will publish the name
of the Lord, ascribe ye greatness unto our God. He is the rock. His work is perfect for all His
ways are judgment. All His ways are correct. They're
all right. They're all fair. Every single
one of them. He is the Rock. His work is perfect
for all His ways are judgment. A God of truth and without iniquity,
just and right is He. Now watch verse 5. They have
corrupted themselves. Their spot is not the spot of
His children. They are a perverse and crooked
generation. Do you thus requite the Lord,
O foolish people and unwise? Is not He thy Father that hath
bought thee? Hath He not made thee and established
thee? They have corrupted themselves. All right, now let's start looking
at they. Let's start looking at us. Turn with me over to Psalm
7. Psalm 7 verse 14 says, this is
talking about us, Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and
hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood. He made
a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he
made. His mischief shall return upon
his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon
his own pate. That means scalp. I'll praise
the Lord according to his righteousness and will sing praise to the name
of the Lord most high. Man did this to himself. All right, now go back with me
to Romans chapter 9. Verse 17 says, For the scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I
might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared
throughout all the earth. Pharaoh was raised up on purpose,
on purpose, to a high and lofty position so that God might show
his power. That's why. But Pharaoh was a
child of wrath the very day he was born. the very day he was born. He
was no different from any other child ever born. No different. Ephesians 2 says that we're all
children of wrath just like everybody else. And God could have raised up
anybody. Anybody. And the same rebellion would
have taken place. You know that? The exact same
rebellion. Who makes me to differ? But for
the grace of God, there go I. He could literally raise me up
just to tear me down and show His power. Unless the mercy of
God intervenes, every human being born into this world is destined
for one place. Every single human being. There is only one place that
sinners can go. They do not have to be elected
to it. They have no choice. There's nowhere else they can
go. There's nowhere else they can go. Verse 18 here in Romans
9 says, Therefore hath He mercy on whom He will have mercy, and
whom He will, He hardeneth. Now wait a minute. That says, he hardeneth. He did it. That's what it says,
right? You believe that? That's what
it says. I believe it. How does he harden
a sinner and what does that mean? If He's holy, and if He's just,
and if He's good, and if He's right, and if He doesn't pervert
judgment, did He physically make them to be evil and wicked? It says He hardened them. Did
He actually make them thus? This is the question we're trying
to figure out. Go with me to 1 John 1. 1 John chapter 1. Now, I'll just tell you, this
is the key. Here's the key to all this, okay?
1 John 1 verse 5 says, This then is the message, which we have
heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is light. He is light. And in Him is no
darkness at all. In glory there is no need of
the sun. The Lamb is the light. He is light, okay? Now verse
6 says, if we say that we have fellowship with Him, we're in
Him, we are with Him, we walk with Him, we talk with Him. If
we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness,
we're lying and do not the truth. And the reason is because He
is light. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light,
we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ
His Son cleanseth us from all sin. So God is light, and He
is in the light. No darkness at all, alright?
Hold on to that for one second, and turn to Mark chapter 10. Mark chapter 10 and look at verse
18. And Jesus said unto him, Why
callest thou me good? There is none good but one. That is God. There is none good
but one. God is good. Put the emphasis
on the word is and not on the word good. We're not just saying
God is good. We're saying God is good. If anything's good, it's God.
God is good. Okay, now, hold on to that. We
got God is light and God is good. Go with me to Isaiah 45. Isaiah 45, the end of verse 6
says, I am the Lord and there is none else. I form the light
and create darkness. I make peace and create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things. How does the one who is light
create darkness? He removes his presence. How does the one who is good
create evil? He removes his presence. How does God harden a sinner? He removes his presence. And
the farther he gets, the harder that center will come. When he's
near, it's high noon. Thanks be to God, he never gets
farther than a sunset from us. Still something there, but once
he's gone, it's total darkness. Exodus 9 says, Pharaoh hardened
his heart. Exodus 10 says, God hardened
his heart. All he had to do is Leave him
alone. That's all he had to do. Leave
him alone. Turn with me to Proverbs 13. Proverbs 13 verse 24 says, He that spareth his rod, doesn't
give it. He that spareth his rod, hateth
his son. Do we understand what that's saying? Nothing. He that spareth his
rod, hateth his son. But he that loveth him, chasteneth
him betimes. Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I left alone. All he has to do is leave a man
or woman alone. Just leave them alone. Turn over to Matthew 15. The disciples told him, Lord
the Pharisees were offended by what you said. They didn't like
it at all and they were offended. Look at Matthew 15 verse 14. Our Lord said, let them alone. Just leave them alone. They be
blind leaders of the blind, and if the blind lead the blind,
both shall fall into the ditch. Just leave them alone. Go to
Romans chapter 1. Romans 1, look at verse 24, wherefore God also gave them
up. to uncleanness, through the lust
of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves,
who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and
served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever.
Amen. Now look at verse 32. who, knowing
the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are
worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in
them that do them. Therefore thou art inexcusable,
O man, whosoever thou art that judgest. For wherein thou judgest
another, thou condemnest thyself, for thou that judgest doeth the
same things." He's saying don't put the blame on God. God forbid. Why have you made
me like this? The blame goes to man. All right,
now go back with me to Romans 9. Verse 19 says, Thou wilt say
then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted
his will? Nay, but O man, Who art thou
that replyest against God? Paul is saying this is a rebuttal
question that somebody is going to ask me. Verse 19, Why doth
he yet find fault? If everything is according to
his will, and if God did all the choosing, then why is he
upset with me? Verse 20, he says, Nay, but,
O man, who art thou that replyest against God? Shall the thing
formed say to 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 honour and
another unto dishonour? Now wait a minute. He made the
vessels of the same lump, right? And He made one unto honor and
another unto dishonor. He made the vessels, right? Now God has put a difference
between His elect and the world. He has made a difference. But
here's the truth of this passage. There has only been one vessel that was ever made unto honor. One body of clay, the God-Man, Jesus Christ. This one is my beloved Son in
whom I'm well pleased. Every other vessel ever made
has been to dishonor every single one. Turn, this one's important.
Go with me to 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15, look at verse 42. So also is the resurrection of
the dead. It is sown in corruption. It
is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor. Every one of them. It is raised
in glory. It is sown in weakness. It is
raised in power. In sin did my mother conceive
me. God's elect are not made, meaning
physically born into this world. in honor. They're not. But there is one who was. One. And all of us who were sown
in dishonor, we only have one hope. One hope of being raised
in glory. And here's what it is. This is
my hope. Man, this is my hope. It's if
God Almighty will take us dishonorable vessels and break us, and then
scoop us up, and pour us into the vessel of honor, and then
raise us up to be seated with Him. 2 Thessalonians 2.13 says we're
chosen to salvation. We're elected to salvation. That's what God's word has to
say about the subject. Whether I understand it all or
not, I pray God will give me a heart to believe it. All right. You're dismissed.