If you would like to follow along
with me this morning, I'm looking at the book of Romans chapter
9. Romans chapter 9. I want to read three verses of
Scripture with you. The church that I pastor, we
have been studying through the book of Romans together. This
is the third time in the last 15 years that we have looked
at the book of Romans verse by verse. Romans chapter 9 verse
14 through 16 says this, 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. Now, the issue is clear today. The issue in religion is clear
today. God's will or man's will, which
will determines the salvation of a human being whose will is
free. There can only be but one free
will. God is either doing according
to his will, or he has to wait and see what man will do. Well, Hebrews 10, I quote, Hebrews
10, 9 and 10, Christ said, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God."
He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.
And by the which will, he said, I come to do thy will, O God.
And he says, by the which will, by the will of God, we, speaking
of those Hebrew believers, are sanctified. through the offering
of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Which will? Well, there
it says God's will. In Ephesians chapter 1, I hope
you'll jot these scriptures down and look them up for yourselves.
I hope you'll search the scriptures like the noble Bereans to see
if these things are so. Don't take my word for it or
anyone, any man's word for it. Ephesians chapter 1 says this
in verse 11, in whom, that is, in Christ, we, speaking of the
saints at Ephesus, the faithful in Christ, in Christ we have
obtained an inheritance being predestinated according to the
purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his
own will." The counsel of his own will. God's will. The counsel of his will. What does it mean, counsel? Well,
that was a meeting, a covenant, a time of agreement, a time of
purpose. an ordering of all things which
God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit had in the beginning,
before the world, chapter 1, verse 4 says, before the foundation
of the world. This counsel was held. And it says, God worketh all
things after the counsel, that is, according to the purpose
which he purposed Back then, before the foundation of the
world, God worketh all things, everything is fulfilling That
predesigned, predetermined, predestined purpose of God according to His
will. Now that's what the scripture
said. Acts 15, 18 says, known unto God are all His works from
the beginning. Everything is working according
to the counsel of God's will. He worketh all things according
to to his purpose and the counsel of his will. That's very plain
to those who look at it honestly. And here in Romans 9, verse 16,
it says, "...not of him that willeth." Well, what about the
will of man? Are not people willing? Are they, do they believe against
their will, against their consent? Well, listen to this, John chapter
1, John chapter 1, I'm reading verses 12 and 13. It reads this way, but as many
as received him, speaking of Christ, And those who received
Him, those who believed Him by faith, those who acknowledged
Him as the Son of God, the Lord, the Savior of sinners, says,
as many as received Him, to them gave He power, that is, the right
or the privilege. To them gave He power to become
the sons of God. That is their end. That is their
predestined end. Read on. to as many as received
him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on his name." All right? It says they believe
on his name. They have this right, this privilege
of being called, someday consummated into the sons of God, those that
receive him. All right? Now, verse 12 has
a colon at the end of it, not a period. If you see a colon,
the English grammar tells us that what follows is, had determined
what preceded that. Listen to it. Verse 12, and I
read verse 12 and 13 together because they form one complete
sentence. But as many as received him,
to them gave he power. to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on his name, which were born, not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of
God." These who received him, those who believed on his name,
were born of God. spoken of throughout the Scriptures.
Our Lord said to Nicodemus, you must be born again. No one gives birth to themselves,
but they are given birth by someone else. Life is created, as it
were, or conceived by someone else. We do not conceive ourselves. How ridiculous can you get? Neither
do we do so spiritually. Our Lord said there to Nicodemus
again, you must be born from above. Well, but what about the
will of man? Are they not willing? Yes, God's
people are willing. They're the bride of Christ.
And when asked, do you take this man? They say yes. Will you receive
him? Yes. Why? Psalm 110, verse 3,
says this. God wrote a long time ago, Thy
people shall be willing in the day of thy power. Did you hear that? Psalm 110,
verse 3. Thy people, God's chosen people,
shall be willing in the day of God's power. He makes them willing. They are born of God. He gives
them a will. They wouldn't have it otherwise.
Christ said to some, you will not come unto me. Alright, listen
to Philippians chapter 2. I read Philippians 2 verse 13.
It says, Paul writing to the Philippian believers. He said,
it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His
good pleasure. It is God that worketh in you
both to will and do of His good pleasure. What could be clearer?
What could be plainer? God's Word is very plain. It's
all right. Over in Proverbs, I love this.
verse in Proverbs chapter 8, which is a picture of Christ
who is wisdom. But he says in Proverbs 8, all
the words of my mouth are in righteousness, or that is, everything
I say is right. Everything God's Word says is
right, though we can't understand it, it's right, and believers
believe it. They may not understand everything,
but they believe. I read on. Proverbs 8.8 says,
All the words of my mouth are in righteousness. There is nothing
fraud, or that is, wreathed or perverse in them. They are all
plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge. God's Word is very plain to those
that understand. Plain as the nose on your face
when you read Romans 9.16. It's not of him that willeth. or John 1, 13, or Philippians
2, 13. Let me read what our Lord said
in John 6 concerning His will. John 6, verse 38 and 39, Christ
again. Again, He says, I came down from
heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent
me. In other words, Christ said,
I came down to earth from heaven to do the will, the predetermined
purpose of God Almighty, God the Father, which he purposed
in Christ before the world began, the counsel of his will. Christ
said, I came down from heaven to do the will of him that sent
me, and this is the Father's will. which hath sent me, that
of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should
raise it up again at the last day." That's God's will. Scripture says over in 2 Peter
3 verse 9, God is not willing that any should perish. That's
true. That's exactly true. But who's
the any? You need to find out who the
any there is he is speaking of. In 2 Peter 3, he says the word
beloved four times. This second epistle, beloved,
I write unto you. Verse 9 says, The Lord is not
slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness,
but is longsuffering to usward. Peter says us. God is longsuffering
to us, not willing that any should perish. Any who? Any of us. God's people. but that all should
come to repentance." That's God's will. He's not willing that any
of his people should perish. Christ said in John 10, I give
unto them. He said, I know my sheep and
have known of them. He says, I give unto them eternal
life. I give unto them all the Father
gave me. I give to them eternal life.
And the Holy Spirit in time comes down and gives them faith. It's
not of themselves. It's the gift of God. And they
shall never perish, Christ said. Why? Because it's not God's will
that they should perish. They all should come to repentance.
How plain could the Scriptures be? Well, those that are unlearned
and unstable, Peter said back in that same chapter, do wrest
the Scripture, do twist it to their own destruction and the
destruction of those who hear them. Well, God's will is what determines
our salvation, people. God's will. Christ said it's
the Father's will, that all which he hath given me I should lose
nothing. A will is your tendency, your
disposition, your choice. That's what the will is. And
that's determined by your nature. The horses eat grain and grass. Lions eat meat. They're predators. Scripture says man drinks iniquity
like the water. Man is sinful by nature. Jeremiah
13.23 says, Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard
his spots? Neither. Then can you do good
with a custom of doing evil? Man by nature, his will, his
natural bent, his natural disposition is toward evil. He will not choose
God over evil. He will choose sin every time.
Adam and Eve were the only human beings ever created with a free
will. What did they choose? They chose
themselves over God. And man died that day. His will died. And now man is
born from Adam, sons of Adam, and all suffer with a will that
is bound by their sinful, evil nature. And God must make us
willing. We will not choose him lest he
first chooses us. We will not believe lest he gives
us faith. We will not repent. We will not
bow. We will not Have this man to
reign over us unless he causes us to do so, makes us willing
in the day of his power. Whose will is free? God's will
only. And God must make us willing. He gets all the glory. What's
the purpose in all this? God's glory, that's the purpose.
That's the purpose in everything. Until next Sunday, may God get
the glory. is my prayer. Amen.