If you want to turn in your Bibles
to the book of Romans, chapter 9, we're going to be reading
there. Romans, chapter 9. I've entitled
this message, Election. Election. There's a word that
starts fights between religious people. There's really no reason
for fighting over this. It's revealed in Scripture throughout
the Bible. And so we want to look at this.
Now, we've been studying in Matthew, the book of Matthew, and we're
going to go back there, but because we have been seeing the rejection
by the Jews. The Lord Jesus Christ was rejected
by the Jews, and we've been seeing that, and so I felt it was appropriate
for us to take at least one sermon here and to look at the book
of Romans, where God actually deals with this head-on, this
doctrine of election. Because the questions that we
ask naturally in reviewing and going over those chapters in
Matthew are answered here in Romans very clearly. Now, the
very last verse of the book of Romans chapter 8, if you read
that with me, it says, we could read all of this, and I'm sure
you're familiar with it, but look at this, "...nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." This
is the crescendo. This is the climax of what Paul
had been teaching in the book of Romans up to this point. Nothing
higher in Scripture reaches this level of rejoicing in the heart
of God's people, that nothing can separate us from the love
of God, and that love is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Now that is naturally
where Paul leaves it. He had described in chapter 7
his own internal warfare with sin. He said, there's no good
thing in my flesh. When I would do good, evil is
present with me. How can the Apostle say, on the
one hand, that he's a wretched man, and here at the very last
verse of Romans 8 say that nothing can separate us from the love
of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Well, it's because
God has given this grace to His people that He receives them
for Christ's sake. It's on that note that in Romans
9, verses 1-5, we read this. Paul says, I say the truth in
Christ. What Paul is about to say here
is undoubtedly true in his own experience. He says, I lie not. My conscience, also bearing me
witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual
sorrow in my heart, for I could wish that myself were accursed
from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen, according to the
flesh, who are Israelites. And then he lists all the advantages
they have compared to all the other nations and the people
in the world to whom pertaineth the adoption. There was never
a nation adopted except the nation of Israel and the glory. God
never made himself known to any other nation in the way he made
himself known in the tabernacle, in the wilderness, and in Canaan.
in the worship of God, but to the Israelites. And the covenants,
God gave covenants to them. He promised them the land of
Canaan, and to multiply their seed. And the giving of the law,
and the service of God, and the promises. Whose are the fathers. And here's the highest privilege
they had. And of whom as concerning the
flesh, Christ came, who is over all, God, blessed forever. Amen. So Paul is asking the question
here. He didn't ask it, but he's pointing out the fact that here
we have a nation that is distinguished by God among all the other nations
in the world. He saved them out of Egypt. He
brought them through the Red Sea on dry land, destroying their
enemies. He brought them through the wilderness.
He brought them into the land of Canaan and destroyed other
nations to give that land to them. And then He gave them kings
and prophets and priests. He gave them His service. He
gave them His law. He showed Himself to them through
miracles. Their own people prophesied to
them. What advantages! And since He says in the last
verse of Romans 8, nothing, nothing can separate us from the love
of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. The question naturally
comes up. Why then did this nation, why
was it that in this nation of so many people named by the name
of Israel, born to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, not to Ishmael,
not to Esau, but to Isaac and Jacob, why was it that so many,
in fact most, in that nation perished in unbelief? That's
the question that is behind these words that we're about to read
next. He says, "...not as though the word of God has taken none
effect. For they are not all Israel which
are of Israel." Now this is the revelation of Scripture. Not
all in the nation of Israel Not all in that physical nation,
not all born to Abraham, are the children of God. Not all
of them are part of what God calls the true Israel. That's
what He says in this little verse, "...not as though the word of
God is taken in effect, for they are not all Israel which are
of Israel." Not as though the Word of God has taken none effect
means that the reason that these people, even though they were
many as the sand of the sea and the stars of heaven in multitude,
even though God blessed them with all these things, the reason
they were not saved, He nails it right on the head here, it
wasn't due to any weakness in God's Word. It wasn't because
God's Word, God was unfaithful to His Word. It was not because
of God's unfaithfulness. Nor was it because of God's weakness. Remember when the children of
Israel worshiped the idol while Moses was on the mountain? And
he comes down and he sees the people worshiping an idol, claiming
the idol, the calf they made out of gold, had delivered them
and brought them from Egypt. And God says to Moses, I'm going
to destroy them. And Moses argues, he says, no,
if you destroy them, then their enemies will say, you were not
able, you were not able to bring them to the land that you promised
them. And he argues on the basis of God's promise and covenant.
And here, the question really behind verse 6 is, was there
something deficient in God's ability to save Israel, these
people? Was it because they were too
sinful? Because of their unbelief? Or some other reason in them?
Or was it a weakness in God's Word? He was unfaithful to them. No, He says that wasn't the problem
at all. The fact of the matter is, they are not all Israel,
which are of Israel. What he's saying here is that
the promise of God was not given to every person born to Abraham. That's the truth that is taught
in this scripture. Not all who were born to Abraham
are called God's sons. And so that's the first point
to notice in this chapter. God is dividing within the nation
called by His name. He's dividing out in that nation
people who were actually His people from those who were not
His people. In Ezekiel He says, I will divide
sheep from sheep, cattle from cattle, goats from the sheep. All these things God does within
that one nation. And so, it reaffirms the fact
that there was nothing wrong with God's Word. His claim that
nothing would separate us from the love of God, which is in
Christ Jesus our Lord, is true. Nothing shall separate us from
the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And the
reason, given here, why there were so many in Israel that were
lost, is because they were not in Christ Jesus our Lord. And how do we get there? By election. By God's electing grace. Remember
what 1 Corinthians 1 verse 30 says? Of Him are you in Christ
Jesus. Of Him are you in Christ Jesus.
And that's what he's about to launch into here in this chapter. So I want to go through this
chapter with you and see this doctrine of election. Romans
chapter 9 verse 7 says this, "...neither because they are
the seed of Abraham," that means because they were physically
born to Abraham, "...are they all children, but in Isaac shall
thy seed be called." It's not the children of the flesh, he
says, not the children of the flesh, but the children of the
promise. See what it says here in the next verse? That is, they
which are the children of the flesh, that means physically
born, but not spiritually born, these are not the children of
God. But the children of the promise
are counted for the seed. When Abraham and Sarah had Isaac,
their son, he was a son by promise. And God said to Abraham, before
he offered up Isaac on the Mount Moriah, He said, take now your
son, your only son. God only counted Isaac as his
son, because he was the son of promise. And someone might say,
well, that's because Isaac was born to Sarah. through Abraham,
and Ishmael was born to Hagar through Abraham, and therefore
there's a difference, because they had a different mother.
But that is not the case. That's not the point. The point
is that Isaac was of promise, because God told Sarah, He says
here in verse 9, "...for this is the word of promise, at this
time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son." So what is the Apostle
doing here? Well, first of all, he's telling
us how his heart breaks for those people who were of his own nation. His love is unequaled compared
to all other loves ever seen in scripture. He says, I am willing
to be accursed from Christ for my brethren after the flesh.
These Israelites. And so he laments, with great
lamentation, the lost condition of most of Israel. And then he
searches for an answer. He asks the question. Without
asking it, he answers it, really. But the question would be this.
Is there something about God that caused, that failed? There's something in his word,
or something about his character, or something about the people
that was too strong for him, that he couldn't save. No, that
wasn't it. The problem was not with that.
We trace it back up to God's will. And that's what He's going
to teach here. So, they're not the children
of God if they're the children of the flesh. He is not a Jew
which is one outwardly, but He is a Jew which is one inwardly.
Circumcision is of the heart. Remember Romans chapter 2, verse
28-29? This was a huge, huge error. in the time of the Apostles,
in the time of Christ, in all of the history of Israel. This
huge error is corrected throughout Scripture. Remember that well-known
verse in John 3.16, "...for God so loved the world that He gave
His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish,
but have everlasting life." Everyone says, oh see, God loved everyone
in the world. But the verse is given there
in order to correct this error. That error is that those, the
Jews, the Israelites, thought that by their birth to Abraham
they were automatically counted by God as the children of promise. They were not. And so Jesus corrects
that in Nicodemus. He says, no, no. That which is
born of the flesh is flesh. Well, how do you become born
of the Spirit? The Spirit blows, the wind blows wherever it will,
wherever God pleases. It's up to God. And so, Nicodemus
asks the question, how can these things be? How can someone be
born of the Spirit? And Jesus immediately takes him
back to the wilderness, in the desert, where the people complained
against God and Moses. And He says, to those bitten,
serpent-bitten people, God says, He says, look upon this serpent
on the pole and live. And Jesus tells Nicodemus, whoever
looks, whoever believes on the Son of God, whoever believes
in Him, has everlasting life. Those bitten by sin, looking
to Christ alone, are those who are born of God. That's how it
works. So God didn't just love the Jews,
He loved throughout the world His people. And so that's what
that is. But this error was common. John
the Baptist spoke about it. He says, And Jesus said to the Jews, He
says, "...you are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your
father you will do." John 8, verse 44. Peter spoke against
it. He says, "...that the stone that
was set at nought of you builders is become the head of the corner."
That's the Lord Jesus Christ. "...and there is salvation in
no other, for there is no other name under heaven, given among
men, whereby we must be saved." Acts 4, 11 and 12. Peter spoke
against it. Christ, John the Baptist, Stephen,
remember? He was stoned. He spoke against
it. He said to them in Acts chapter 7, Verse 51, he says, preaching
to the Jews, he said, "...you stiff-necked and uncircumcised
in heart and ears, you do always resist the Holy Ghost as your
fathers did. So do ye." So he's pointing out
that this is not uncommon. This has always been the case. And so he corrects it here. Men
trust everything but God's sovereign grace in Christ. And there is
nothing more common among the nation of Israel than to trust
the fact that they were circumcised, born to Abraham, and they had
the law, they had the prophets, and they had all these things.
But when Jesus came, He says, no, those things will do you
no good. No good whatsoever. You must
be born of God. And now Paul makes it unmistakably
clear in verse 8. He says, those which are the
children of the flesh, these are not the children of God.
Now, we're not born of God by our birth to our parents. Remember
John, chapter 1, verse 12 and 13? He says, As many as received Him, Christ,
to them He gave power to become the sons of God. Which believe
on His name. Then he goes on and says, who
were born not of blood, not by physical descent. Not of the
will of man. Not because you just make it
your deliberate will to do something. To believe or to make a decision
or any of those things. It's not by that. And he says
it's not by the will of the flesh or the will of man. It's not
by the will of others. Your parents can't make you God's child. They
can't do something to you by baptizing you or bringing you
to church every week. That's not going to make you
God's child. God's Spirit has to open your heart as He did
Lydia in Acts chapter 16 around verse 9 or 7. Listen to what
James the Apostle says, "...of his own will begat he us by the
word of truth." James 1.18. So throughout all the nations
of the world, only those God chose to salvation are called
the sons of promise. And throughout history, many
were born to Abraham who were not God's people. This is what
Paul says in Romans chapter 9 and 10 and 11. that it will be this
way until the end of time." To the end of time. Look at, for
example, look over here in Romans 9 verse 20-27. Isaiah also crieth concerning
Israel, though the number of the children of Israel be as
the sand of the sea, A remnant shall be saved." So you see this
is a prophecy. God all along not only knew but
purposed that this is the way it would be. There would be a
remnant out of that nation. He says in verse 28, "...for
He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness, because
a short work will the Lord make upon the earth." In other words,
He's not going to save everybody. He's going to save only those
who are in that remnant. Verse 29, And as Isaiah said
before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth, or the Lord of hosts, had left
us a seed, we had been as Sodom, and been made like unto Gomorrah.
What's God saying there? He says that unless God Himself
chose His people, we all would be destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah. And so that's very important.
It's extremely important to realize that. That our salvation hinges
entirely upon what God does. God's choice. God's will. God's
work. And that's the teaching here
in Romans chapter 9 and throughout the chapter. So, I want you to
see that first of all. That God's will is what makes
the difference. Now in verse 9, Paul continues. He refers back to Isaac. And
what does he do? He says, what does the scripture
say? Look at verse 9. For this is
the word of promise. Quote, at this time will I come
and Sarah shall have a son. Close quote. That's from Genesis
chapter 18, verse 10. Now, I want you to realize this.
This is very, very important. Very important. And I actually
wrote an entire sermon on this, but I set it aside because I
felt like it was getting into too much detail for the topic
here. But this is so important, I'm
pausing for a moment to allow you to anticipate the answer. What I'm about to say. In Romans
chapter 9, there are 33 verses. And in those 33 verses, 14 times,
Paul quotes scripture. Now why do I say that? Well,
because this is what's important. How do you know anything that's
true? How do you know God's will? How
do you know God's mind? What's the foundation of all
truth? What gives you in your heart a settled rest and confidence
that you even know what God thinks? How can you know the will of
God? How can you have any hope that you are a believer? That you know God as He truly
is? That you can think what's true
about God? How can you know that? How can
you believe anything that's true? And there's only one answer to
that question. It's whatever God has written
in scripture. You cannot know the truth except
God reveals it. And the only place God reveals
the truth about himself is in his written word. This is so
fundamental, but it's something we easily lose sight of in our
own walk. We think, as we're about to look
at this chapter, we think as we look at these things that
are revealed to us, these things that are mysteries, then they
are mysteries. What did God do? Why were these
people not saved? Why were these people saved?
What's happening in the world? And when God tells us, then we
know it, don't we? How do you know how the world
came to be? How do you know how this entire
universe came into existence? How do you know what upholds
it? Scientists say, well, light travels at a certain speed and
we can see things and they make some calculations, therefore
the universe is 2 billion light years and so on. But that's all
assuming that things are just sort of going on in physics as
they always have. Where did these laws of physics
come from? And who upholds these laws? The Word of God. It's the Word of God. That's
what Scripture says. He created all things by His
Word out of nothing. Hebrews 1, verses 2 and 3. Christ created all things. He
upholds all things. God created all things. This
is the fundamental starting point in Scripture. He's the Creator.
He created all things by what? His own Word. His own Word, Scripture,
is the only thing, only way we know truth. Hebrews 11 verse
3 says this, "...by faith, or through faith, we understand
that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that things
which are seen were not made of things which do appear." How
do we know that? I saw, someone showed me a video
on the internet that this guy was saying, how could spiritual
things create physical things? I just defy all reason that this
doesn't make any sense and therefore it can't be. What a stupid moron. That's what we are. We're stupid
morons to think that we know by our reasoning what God has
plainly revealed in His Word. We say it's false just because
we can't understand it. And so I underscore this with
a little bit of emphasis. Because when Paul quotes scripture
here, he's actually referring back to the fundamental, most
basic, and most assured source of truth there is. The only source.
The Word of God written. The Word of God written. Remember
what Peter said in 2 Peter 1 verses 19-21. He says, we were there
on the mount when Christ was transfigured. But we have a more
sure word of prophecy. Scripture was not given by private
interpretation. It was God breathed. God spoke
it. And so there's nothing. How could
you know what's in the mind of God if God didn't reveal it?
And where does God reveal it? In His Word. What did Paul say
back in Romans chapter 7? We know the law is spiritual. It's not physical. It's not material. God reveals it. It's something
that comes to us by God's Spirit. And we know it in our heart.
It's not something we can deduce by reasoning. We can't measure
the truth with instruments. We can't observe it. We can't
prove it by other things. The Word of God is axiomatic. And that's a big word. It just
means that there's nothing more fundamental than this. You can't
prove it. It's just there. It's true. God
just declares it. And that's what preaching is.
It's just declaring what God has said. There's nothing more
basic. There's nothing more sure to your faith and your life and
eternity than what God has said. Psalm 138 verse 2 says, God has
exalted His Word above His own name. If God's word fails, God
fails to be God. And so, when Paul wants to tell
us the way things are, he quotes scripture. Isaac. God says to
Sarah, you shall have a son. That was the promise. There was
no conditions. I will come, you shall have a
son. And verse 10. Romans 9. And not only, but when Rebecca
also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac. So now we're
dealing with Rebecca and Isaac. Rebecca and Isaac were husband
and wife. And unlike Ishmael, Rebecca conceived
by Isaac as the mother of two children at the same time. And
so in verse 11 he says, "...for the children, being not yet born,"
Jacob and Esau, who were going to be born, they weren't yet
born, "...neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God according to election might stand." What is that purpose? "...not of works, but of him
that calleth." It was said to her, the elder shall serve the
younger, as it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I
hated. Now, this is given as the third
example. The first example is the nation
of Israel. In that nation, most of them
perished because of their... Well, the question is asked,
why did they perish? Certainly they were in unbelief,
but wasn't God able to overcome that? And the second example
is Ishmael and Isaac. And the third example is Jacob
and Esau. And now he says, these two boys
are especially important. God has made Jacob an exemplar,
a prototype, the premier example of how election works. They were
both born to the same father, the same mother, and they were
in the womb at the same time. And their birth sequence was
first Esau and then Jacob, but they were basically The same
in every way. You would think that there was
no reason why God would make a distinction between these two
boys. And yet God says, before they're born, and He makes a
point of saying, before they had done any good or evil, in
order that the purpose of God according to election might stand,
not of works, but of Him that calleth. God's purpose? was set forth here. God's election
and God's calling are put on the side of the scales, on this
side. And what's on the other side? Everything from man. What's on that side of the scales
then? Absolutely nothing. Nothing's on that side. God's
purpose, God's election, and God's calling are on this side.
And he says there's nothing on that side. They had done nothing
good. They had done nothing evil. They were both in the same womb
of the same parents at the same time. So what made the difference? God made the difference. God
made the difference. The first point to understand
in the doctrine of election is that God is God. God made the
difference. And we might say, well, if God
made the difference, and there was no distinction between them,
and His difference, what He did at that point in time, determined
their eternal end, We have a question. We people have a question for
God. We're going to drag God's eternal
counsel into the courtroom of our reason, and we're going to
examine what He did and see if it's fair. And so, the Spirit
of God anticipates sinful man's response. And Paul asks this
question in verse 14. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? Is there? Now, I have tried to
convince myself and others how there could be no unrighteousness
with God based on what he did with Jacob and Esau. But you
know what? The Spirit of God answers that
question in just a few words. How does he do it? Listen to
what he says. Unlike what we would naturally
do, God forbid. There's your answer. What's the answer to the question?
Is God unrighteous? If He chose Jacob and did not
choose Esau. If He loved Jacob and hated Esau
before they were born or had done any good or evil. Is God
unrighteous? God says no. Now, is that enough? Well, scripture throughout says
this in so many words. Throughout scripture it's given
very clearly. Look at Deuteronomy, just a couple
of examples here. Because this is what the Spirit
of God is doing here. He's basically making a flat,
simple, denial of that assertion. Is God unrighteous? Deuteronomy
chapter 32, verse 4. Actually verse 3 will say this.
I will publish the name of the Lord. Ascribe ye greatness unto
our God. He is the Rock. A rock means
it can't be moved. It's firm. It's long enduring. You can lean upon it. 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. There's the answer, isn't it?
Look at Psalm 145. Psalm 145, he says similar things
here. This is scripture, isn't it?
Is there anything more foundational? Psalm 145 verse 17. The Lord is righteous in all
His ways. Psalm 145 verse 17. The Lord
is righteous in all His ways and holy in all His works. You see that? So there's the
answer. Is God unrighteous? No. How do you know? Scripture says
God is just, righteous, perfect, in all His ways, holy. Well,
then, I mean, I have a lot of questions as a man. I've got
a lot of questions still to ask you. But the Lord is going to
answer those questions. Listen to this. He says, back
in Romans 9 now, He says, Is there unrighteousness with God?
God forbid. That's the first response. And
then he gives the answer to the question in more detail. He says,
quoting Scripture, "...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." That's Scripture, isn't it? So then,
it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, striving,
but of him that shows mercy. It's of God. It's not of man
who wills, or runs, or his worth, or his experience, or his thoughts. It's not even his faith. It's
God who wills to show mercy. It's God who wills. And that
was what God said to Moses. And that is what Paul quotes
from scripture in order to answer the objection. Is there unrighteousness
with God? His answer is this. No. God is
God. God is sovereign. And God is
just and right. God did this. How do you know
it's right? Because God did it. If God did
it, it must be right. And that's where we have to stop.
Because scripture has spoken. Now, I know that if you've had
any experience in things like running a business or developing
products as an engineer or maybe just running a family or observing
how the government is run, you'll know right away that if you try
to explain every decision to the satisfaction of everyone
involved, And you say, well, here's the problem we need to
solve. Here's all of the constraints and the requirements. And here
are all the alternatives for what we could do. And here's
why we've chosen this alternative. And we have to answer everyone
to their level of understanding and their level of approval.
Do you know what would happen in a business? Nothing. You know
what would happen in the government if the government had to answer
every detractor in order for the government to do its job?
Nothing would happen. Because there's always going
to be objectors who either are ignorant and can't understand
the problem or the solution, or will not understand it because
of their evil. And that's exactly what God says
in Jeremiah 17 verse 9. He says, The heart of man is
deceitful. Above all things, the most prominent
thing about man's heart is that it is deceitful. Who can know
it? And then God says, I, the Lord,
search the heart and try the reins. The Lord knows the heart
of man. And so God speaks scripture. He speaks with the authority
from heaven. And He says, this is the way
that it is. No, I'm not going to tell you
all of the things I went through in my eternal counsels to come
to the conclusion in this matter. I'm not going to give you the
processes by which I thought things through. I'm God. I don't give account of any of
my matters, especially to a man whose heart is wicked and deceitful
above all things. He just tells us what's true.
And have you ever received the blessing of someone actually
having developed something so nice and useful as, say, a sewing
machine or a cell phone or something like that? You never go back
and ask them, how did you do that in order to enjoy the benefits
of it, do you? You just take it and receive
it. Now God has spoken here. He says, I will have mercy on
whom I will have mercy. And I will have compassion on
whom I will have compassion. And this is the way God works. And when we stand at the edge
of the ocean, or we stand before Mount Denali or some other huge
mountain, or we look into the night sky at the universe and
the myriad of galaxies and stars, or we look at the size of a cell
in our body and we wonder at the trillions of cells that are
in our body and we think, I am so small and insignificant. I'm
so weak. And we feel a certain level of
tingle that goes over our body because our minds absorb the
fact that we're really nothing. The world itself has been here
much longer than we have, and it will be here much longer after
we die. And if we climb a mountain without
respect to its immensity, or the weather on top, or the gravity
that pulls us down, or the rocks that might fall, we'll be killed.
And so we respect it, don't we? And if we can respect creation
in this way, why can't we respect the Word of God? God has given
us His own mind and truth written. And He tells us simply, this
is the way I did it. Because I will show mercy on
whom I will show mercy. And I will have compassion on
whom I will have compassion. I loved Jacob. I had mercy on
Jacob. Because I willed to love Jacob. And I willed to show mercy on
Jacob. I chose Jacob. I did not choose
Esau. That's the answer here. But we
might say, well what about the fact that they were children. They had not done any good or
evil. And we begin to get into a labyrinth,
a maze of questions that we can't answer. And we can find no one
who can answer them to our satisfaction. Because we won't take God's Word
as the final authority. And that's the reason we doubt
God. It's because we think we have
to put our reason on it. God has to give us something
that our reasoning can figure out in order to take God at His
Word. We hold God suspect until He
can explain it to our level of understanding. And God doesn't
do that. He just says, in the beginning God created the heavens
and the earth. And God is God. He's over all. He made the world by Himself,
for Himself, to His glory. And what are we going to do about
that? Well, just like we do before the mountain and the ocean and
all these other things, we stand still and know that He is God.
And it humbles us, doesn't it? But that is what God's Word is
supposed to do. Humble us. To put us in the dust. We cannot worship a God that
we can understand and control. We have to worship a God on whom
we depend for every speck of truth that we know that He would
reveal it to us and give it to us freely. But then, Paul addresses
Esau, in this case, verse 16. He says, "...so then it is not
of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that
shows mercy." Why weren't all of Israel saved? Because God
did not will to have mercy on all of Israel. Why wasn't Ishmael
called Abraham's son, a spiritual son? Because God didn't give
promises to Ishmael. Why didn't God save Esau? Because God chose to save Jacob. He did not choose to save Esau. He loved Jacob. He hated Esau
before they were born or had done any good works. Well then,
listen further, verse 17. He's going to address Esau now.
"...For the Scriptures say 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." Now who was Pharaoh? We know who he was. Everyone
knows who he was. Why do we know who Pharaoh is?
Because God used him. God used him to make known his
name throughout all the earth. Everyone knows about Pharaoh.
Almost, I think. Everyone I've met. Pharaoh, he
was the king of Egypt. Remember him? He was this proud,
arrogant, stubborn man who, when Moses comes in, he says, the
Lord says, let my people go. He says, who is the Lord that
I should let Israel go? And in his pride, God increased
his pride by simply feeding him the information he wanted. He
allowed his magicians to do the same things, or similar, to what
Moses did. And Pharaoh thought in his heart,
see, see, there's no special thing going on here. And his
heart grew harder. Ten times God incidents, ten
times God did these miracles and it served to harden Pharaoh's
heart until he was raised up to a point where he was so proud
and angry at Moses and all the Israelites and God that he rushed
headlong after them into the night toward the Red Sea to destroy
them with his armies. And God took this proud, strong
king And all of his armies before these helpless, pitiful people
who could do nothing at night. And he destroyed them in the
sea. And here these people are standing by the side of the sea,
wide-eyed and amazed and thinking, these were huge enemies, we had
no power over them. Without lifting a finger, God
destroyed them in the sea. And what happened because of
that? They burst into song. The Lord is the God of war. He
destroyed our enemies. Exodus 15. And so we see that
God raised up Pharaoh in order that God could show His power
over this pipsqueak king compared to God's power. God raised him
up in order to show His power and to make known His name throughout
all the earth. And so he says here, "...therefore
hath he mercy on whom he will, and whom he will he hardeneth."
He hardeneth. Is it fair for God to harden?
It must be. How do you know? Because God
did it. God did it. Look at verse 19,
"...thou wilt say then unto me..." Here's this proud guy, which
represents all of us. Why doth he yet find fault? For
who hath resisted his will? Pharaoh couldn't help it. God
hardened his heart and God destroyed him. Doesn't that make God responsible
for Pharaoh's sin? Is God not unfair if He did all
that? Why did God even make men? He
knew that He knew we were going to go to hell. Why did God create
a world with men in it that He knew He was going to send to
hell? Why did He do that? Isn't that a question we've asked?
I've been asked that question. I've asked that question. I've
tried to answer it to my own satisfaction and to others. But
the answer of God is given right here. This is the place where
the question is raised. He says, Who has resisted his
will? Why does he yet find fault? He's
big. We're small. He's able to do
what he wants. We can't help it. Verse 20. Nay, but O man, who art thou
that replyest against God? That's the answer, isn't it?
God has given it that answer. There's no better answer. There
is no more basic answer than that. There is no answer that
will satisfy God-given faith but that answer. Every other
answer will satisfy human ingenuity, but only that answer will satisfy
God-given faith. Now we go on, he gives the example
of what we are. He says, hath not the potter
power over the clay of the same lump to make one vessel unto
honor and another unto dishonor? We know the potter has that power.
Well then, what if God, willing to show his wrath and to make
his power known in the case of Pharaoh or in Esau's case or
all the lost in Israel? Or the lost among the Gentiles
who eventually go to hell? He says, 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?
What if God decides that He's going to give justice to man,
He's going to deal with man in justice for his sins? What if
God decides to do that? What if He says, I'm just going
to reward man for his works. Is that fair on God's part? It
seems fair, doesn't it? If God just gives us what we
do, He rewards us for what we do, wouldn't that be fair? That's
what He's saying here. What if God, willing to show
His wrath, His just wrath and to make his power known endured. He put up with Pharaoh a long
time until he was at that point in the appointed time of God
where he's going to destroy him. What if he did bring him to the
throne? He gave him the education and
he made him feel powerful and he gave him authority over all
the land. He thought he could do anything. What if God allowed
that to build up in his heart to a point and then God brought
him to destruction in order to show God's wrath? What's wrong
with that? Wasn't Pharaoh guilty? Well certainly
he was. God could do that. Injustice
couldn't he? And he destroyed him. He fitted himself... in his own behavior, and he was
fitted according to the purpose of God. By his own works, God
simply gave him what he deserved. Verse 23. Here's the other case. Not only, what if God wants to
take this lump of clay and make one vessel to dishonor, what
if He also, that He might make known the riches of His glory
on the vessels of mercy, which He had aforeprepared to glory,
"...even us whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also
of the Gentiles." What if God wants to show His glory and His
mercy? And He takes a lump of clay like
Jacob, and He loves him, and He puts him in Christ, and He
chooses him to salvation, and He gives him eternal glory in
order to show His mercy and His glory that way. What if He wants
to do that? That's good, isn't it? Isn't
it good in both cases? That's what God is teaching us
here. God is good. And this is our salvation. This
is our salvation. Now there's many things that
naturally arise in our minds, and I certainly can't address
them all. But I do want to clarify some
things for you. We might need to ask the question
at this point, what does God mean by election? What does it
mean in Scripture? Well, the word election simply
means chosen, those that God has chosen. I've already said
that in so many words. And the second thing I want you
to know is, what is the cause of God electing His people? Why
does God do that? Well, their immediate cause is
because of His love for them. But what causes God to love them?
In Deuteronomy chapter 7, let's go ahead and turn there. Deuteronomy
chapter 7, look at this. Because remember, the nation
of Israel was chosen as a nation in a way that demonstrates God's
electing grace when He chooses His people spiritually. So in
Deuteronomy chapter 7, He says in verse 7, "...the Lord did
not set His love upon you, nor choose you, because you were
more in number than any people, for you were the fewest of all
people. But because the Lord loved you, And because He would
keep the oath which He swore to our fathers. In other words,
God did it because He did it. Not because of something He found
in you. God loved, He set His love on His people because He
set His love upon them. He chose them because He loved
them. Why does God choose His people? Because He loved them.
Jeremiah 31.3 says, I have loved thee with an everlasting love.
God's love is eternal. Remember what God said about
Jacob and Esau before they were born? Jacob have I loved. Esau have I hated. Does God ever
change? Does He love one day and not
love the next? Does He hate one day and then
not hate the other day? No. God is eternal. He is unalterable. He says in Psalm 90 verse 2 that
the eternal God is our refuge. No, that's in Deuteronomy, but
in Psalm 90 he also says the same thing. The everlasting God.
He talks about God as eternal. God is eternal. He's unalterable. Malachi 3.6, he says, I'm the
Lord. I change not. Hebrews 13.5, Jesus Christ, the
same yesterday, today and forever. God doesn't change. He always
does what He wants to do. He always does His pleasure.
And I could take you to many verses about that. So God's love
for Jacob was a love that didn't start when he was born. It didn't
start even before he was born, after his conception. It didn't
start even before his conception when Rebecca and Isaac, before
they had children. It didn't even start after Adam
fell in the garden. It started before God ever created
the world. His love for Jacob was eternal
as God is eternal. And the same thing is true about
Esau. God didn't love Jacob for anything
he found in Jacob. And God didn't hate Esau because
of works that he foresaw in Esau. Now we do think that, don't we? We've got to justify God somehow,
so we think, well... He foresaw that Esau was going
to, or maybe we think, no, God didn't hate him until after he
fell in Adam. God didn't hate him until after
he was born. But that's not what scripture
says, does it? It says that God loved Jacob and hated Esau before
they were born. Before they were born. God is
eternal. What he said to Rebekah before they were born was God's
disposition towards these boys even before the foundation of
the world. And that's just the way that that is. We can think
about it a long time, but I don't have time to get into some of
the details. I was going to... to point out here. So understand
this, that God's election is because of His love of His people.
God's election is, and this is very important, is in Christ. When God says that He elected
His people, He never says He elected them like individuals
to be orbs out here, you know, where they just appear in heaven.
They pop up and there they are. Somehow they got here. We don't
know how. No. All of God's people are chosen
in Christ. Remember what Ephesians 1 verse
3 and 4 says? Look at Ephesians 1 verse 3 and
4. It's just over a little bit. He says, "...Blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." "...according as He has chosen
us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before Him in love." How did God choose
us? He chose us in Christ. Verse
4, "...according as He has chosen us in Him." What does it mean
to be chosen in Christ? It means that God is going to
deal with his people only on the basis of what he does in
his son. Everything he requires of them,
he's going to look to his son to provide. Everything that they've
done for sin, he's going to lay that burden on his son. That's
what election in Christ is all about. God is going to receive
them as He receives His Son. Everything that Christ did, He
credits that to His people. Just like everything they did,
He charges to His Son. They're one. God's people and
Christ are one. They're chosen in Him. They're
inseparable. Christ is the head. They are
the body. God deals with them in their
head, their covenant head, the Lord Jesus Christ. Just like
God dealt with the human race in Adam. And that's what it means
to be in Christ. So election is in Christ. There's no favor, there's no
salvation, there's no blessing from God to men apart from Christ. Nowhere. No one is going to be
in heaven unless they're in Christ. Why else would Christ die? If
you could arrive in heaven, apart from Jesus Christ, because of
something God could do, apart from His death, then Christ didn't
need to die. But there's only one way to be
accepted before God, and that's to be accepted in His Son. And
then in 2 Thessalonians 2.13, we're not only chosen by God,
we're not only chosen in Christ, and it's all because of God's
love, but we're chosen to salvation. 2 Thessalonians 2 says, "...we
are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved
of the Lord, Because God hath from the beginning chosen you
to salvation. We're chosen in Christ to salvation. And that's what Ephesians 1.4
is saying. We're chosen before the foundation of the world that
we might be holy and without blame before Him in love. Where is the love of God? It's
in Christ Jesus. Why weren't the Israelites all
saved? Because they were not all chosen
in Christ. Why was the love of God not toward
them eternally? Because it was never towards
them. Not those who were not chosen. The love of God is in
Jesus Christ, and it's inseparable from Him. And how do we get into
Christ? Of Him are you in Christ Jesus. And so that's the other thing. I mentioned this already, they
were chosen to salvation. But perhaps this is something
that is so obvious that it doesn't need to be stated at this point.
But God's election of His people is unconditional on them. It's unconditional. It's unconditional. If it were conditioned on us,
where would we be? And we already saw in Romans
9.29 that unless God chose His people, no one would be saved. Do you see that? No one would
be saved. Therefore every blessing from
God, every blessing from God comes to us how? Through the
first act of God's electing grace. There's nothing that we have
that didn't come to us apart from God's act of choosing us
in Christ. Now, let's take the most basic
thing that we think of. What about faith? How do we come
by faith? Some people say, well, God chose
those that he foresaw would trust the Lord Jesus Christ. Does that
make any scriptural, is there any scriptural support for that?
Absolutely zero. None. There's no possibility. God did not choose people for
what he saw they were going to do. That denies exactly what
Romans 9-11 is teaching for the children being not yet born,
neither having done any good or evil. Not good or evil actually
done or foreseen. But does God choose us because
we believe? Of course not! Because all spiritual
blessings are given us in Christ according as He has chosen us
in Him. But Acts 13.48 says it very clearly. He says, "...when
the Gentiles heard the gospel, they were glad, and they glorified
the word of the Lord..." Acts 13.48 And as many as were ordained
to eternal life, believed. You see what God is saying here?
Faith, repentance, eternal life, righteousness, sanctification,
holiness, everything. Redemption. Reconciliation, pardon,
forgiveness of sins, glorification, conformance to Christ, being
kept. Everything flows from God to
us because of His choice of us in Christ. Faith itself is God's
gift because of His electing love and grace towards us in
Christ. We are given all these things
because of what Christ has done. And so you see, One of the most
important, if not the, probably the most important truth in here,
is that, in this chapter, is that what God has chosen us to
makes, it glorifies His Son. Back in Romans chapter 9. And
this is true of everything that God does. God is pleased to glorify
the Lord Jesus Christ in all that He does. That's why our
election is in Christ. We were chosen in Christ. We
were preserved by God in Christ. Even though we fell in Adam,
preserved beforehand. God chose us in Christ. So even
though we fell in Adam, we were raised in Christ. We were preserved
in Christ, Jude 1, verse 1, but we were also redeemed by the
Lord Jesus Christ. God chose us in Christ, He redeemed
us, He also birthed us by Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1, verse 4,
we were adopted to sons by Jesus Christ. Verse 5, And not only
were we adopted, regenerated, but we're preserved and kept
by Jesus Christ. We're perfected into His image.
Everything God does for us, He does for us because of Christ
and our faith that He gives to us. The faith that God gives
to His people. focuses all of our attention
on what we are in Jesus Christ, so that we come to God by Him. We don't come in any other way.
If we came in another way, it wouldn't be true faith. And so
look at Romans chapter 9. Again, he says in verse 30, After he said in verse 29, unless
the Lord chose His people, none would be saved. In verse 29,
it would be like Sodom and Gomorrah. He says, what shall we say then?
That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, they
didn't try to keep the law. They were clearly disobedient.
Remember the two sons? The sermon on the two sons? Go
work in my field today, son. No! And then later he went. And then there's a second son.
Go work today, son. Oh sure, sure dad, I'll be right
there. And then he didn't go. That's what these Gentiles here
in verse 30, they were the first son. What shall we say then?
That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, guess
what? They have attained to righteousness. What kind of righteousness? Even
the righteousness which is of faith. And what righteousness
is that? What is the righteousness which
is of faith? Look at verse 4 of chapter 10. Chapter 10, verse
4, "...for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believeth." So the Gentiles, the elect Gentiles
and the elect Jews, they all are saved the same way. But what
God is saying is that when He chooses us in Christ, He not
only chooses us and redeems us by Christ, but He gives us faith
to look to Christ only. So they receive the righteousness
of Christ because God points them to Christ and shows them
He's already established an everlasting righteousness for them in Christ.
And they know it. They're persuaded of it. And
they lean upon it. And they come to God for it,
or by it. And they glory in it. They boast in Christ's righteousness.
They say, like the songwriter said a minute ago, bold, I come.
Before the throne, through Christ my Lord, we can't come in any
other way, except bold in Him. So God gives us this faith in
Christ. It's all about the Lord Jesus Christ. So I just want
to summarize these things for you very quickly here at the
end, because we've covered a lot of ground. First of all, election
is taught. Why does God teach us this? Why
does God disclose these eternal truths to us? First of all, that
we might know that God is God. And secondly, if God didn't choose
us, none would be saved. He wants us to know that, so
that we would glorify Him for it. And thirdly, it's not faith
and it's not unbelief that gives us a reason for God's rejection
of the non-elect or His acceptance of the elect. It's His sovereign
will. Faith is given because of God's
sovereign will. And God's will is not dependent
on our faith. God doesn't hinge His eternal
purposes on the fickle and corrupt mind of man. He doesn't do that. The second one was this. The
fourth one is this. Scripture is our only authority
in all matters of truth. Our conscience, our confidence,
our coming to God always must be based on Scripture alone.
And let us rest there, not on our reasoning. And then, as I
mentioned already, perhaps the most important thing, if undoubtedly
the most important, is that all of this is to focus our attention
on God's darling Son. He's chosen us in Him. He conforms
us to His image by His predestinating grace. And He gives us faith
to see it, and know it, and come to Him through it, and to glorify
Him for it. This is God's saving grace. And
the outworking of this is faith in Christ. Do you see it? As
many as were ordained, believed. Isn't that the evidence of our
election in Christ? And there's many more things
we could say, but we're going to close at this point. Let's
pray. Father, thank you for your mercy. Thank you for your grace.
Thank you for your electing love in the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank
you that you revealed these things to us and we can stand upon it.
And we can have confidence in your goodness because you said
you're good. And you've showed yourself to be good in giving
your son for your people. Undeniably good. And we know
you're just because we know your justice innately. We see it in
your law. And we fear because of it. We
stand in awe at your greatness. And we're humbled by your word.
And we come to you, Lord, and ask you to receive us for Christ's
sake alone. We would find all of our confidence
and joy and peace because You have accepted Him and told sinners,
even those bitten by their own sin, to look to Christ and find
everlasting life in Him. Thank You, Lord, that even though
You've elected us, You've taught us, You've chosen us, and You've
taught us by Your Word so that we can know these things and
walk in life, not in uncertainty, but with certainty. Help us,
Lord, to glorify our Savior in Jesus Christ's name we pray.
Amen.