Oh, now our streets are cleansing
way, the fountain deep and wide. Jesus, O Lord, mighty to save,
points to His wounded side. I say, I cleanse him, oh, he
cleanseth me. Oh, praise the Lord, he cleanseth
me. He cleanseth me, yes, cleanseth
me. I rise to walk in heaven's own
light, above the world and sin, with heart made pure and garments
white. Why can't you know it cleanseth
me? Oh, praise the Lord, it cleanseth
me. It cleanseth me. It cleanseth me. Amazing grace, this heavenly
love, to Thee our blood applied, and Jesus, only Jesus, now by
Jesus crucified. Thank you. How do we rise? to walk in heaven's own light
above the world and sin, with hearts made pure, and garments
white, and Christ enthroned within. How do we do that right now,
when Psalm says, we grumble here below? How do we rise above? Right now, what we're doing is
the way the Lord enables us to rise above this world and hearing
this gospel and hearing those gospel songs which rejoice our
hearts and lift us up a little closer, a little closer by looking
to Christ, the cleansing spring. Romans 9, I venture to say that most, not only in here, but in every
place, Most who have heard the truth and believe it and receive
it first heard the truth of who God is from Romans 9. Or perhaps Ephesians 1 and 2. The gospel of God. That's how
Romans One begins the gospel of God,
the good news that God is God. And this is about His sovereignty. God's sovereignty. Thy God reigneth. Romans, the book, is a book of
doctrine. It's a book of doctrine. And
that's a good word. It's teaching. That's what doctrine
means. Teaching. They'll all be taught,
our Lord said, of God. He said, my doctor. Our Lord
said, my doctor. It's not mine, but him that sent
me. So this is a book of doctrine. Through the first three chapters
of Romans, it very plainly and very clearly describes man, what
he is, all mankind. Romans 1 begins, talks about
the depraved, mostly Gentile world. You've read that, most of you.
If not, read it. Very clear description of every
generation, but it seems mostly to fit our generation, of man's
utter depravity. And Romans 2 are the religious
people, the Jews. Be they, well, religious. Be
they Jews or be they so-called Christian. Today, it says, are
we better than they? No, all of Scripture's proofs
were all under sin. None good, no not one. Chapter
3 goes on to describe that. And then from there on it begins
to tell us how our only hope, the only hope of depraved And
this is what this book says about mankind, that he's guilty vile. We sang that song, guilty vile.
Our Lord says, blind, wretched, naked, without hope, miserable,
wicked. That's what the scripture says
about man. He's born that way, and unless
God does something for him, He will die that way and die in
his sin. And so this whole book, from
then on, begins to tell us the way of salvation. How that God Almighty must save
or no one will be saved. That salvation is of the Lord.
That's what this book teaches. Like every other book. Like the
whole book. In the volume of the book. and how God saves, the first
thing that takes place in the salvation of the sinner took
place before this world began, before time began, before there
were any angels, before there was any creation. It was when
God Almighty chose a people to save. It's called election. And this book, Romans 9, this
chapter, is clearly speaking of God's sovereign election. In other words, His right to
be God. What makes God, God. That God
is God. And we are not. That God's will
alone is free. And more than a doctrine, our
Lord said this is life eternal. This is what it means to be saved,
to know the only, the only true God, the one who is God. The one who is God. Well, Paul
begins this chapter by saying, I could wish myself, he said,
I had great heaviness and sorrow in my heart. for Israel by Kinsman,
according to the flesh. He calls them his brothers. That
is, he was a Jew. He had a good attitude. Paul
had compassion. He was like Christ. Christ was
in him. And before declaring the truth,
he says, I say the truth in Christ. my conscience bearing me witness.
I have a great burden for my brethren. I could wish myself
were even accursed. I don't know if I can say that.
I wish I could. There are some I believe I could
say that. He goes on to say in verse 4
and 5, there are Israelites to whom pertain many things, many
advantages. He said in another place, what
advantage Do the Jews have? Well, many. They had the Word
of God. They had all these things. And let me put this in a little
more relevant way. What advantage
does America have? Modern America, religion today,
which, well, many. There are more Bibles today than
ever in the history of man. Very few houses, I'm sure, without
God's Word in it. And yet Paul says they have all
these advantages, but they don't know the true and
living God. They have His Word, but they don't know the God of
the Bible. Paul says, I know because I was
just like Him. Paul said, I was a Pharisee,
just like them. In chapter 10, he said, they
have a zeal for God, but they don't know God. He said, I know.
I was just like them. Thought I knew God. Thought I
was saved. Sure for heaven. But I was lost. That's what Paul said. Because
it didn't know the true God of the Bible and His Christ. I didn't
know the way of salvation. I thought there was something,
Paul said, that I could do to save myself. Oh, I did wrong. Did right. And so, neither, he said in verse
6, it's not as though the Word of God It's powerless. No effect. And they're not all
Israel, which are of Israel. It's not as though God has His
Word out there for everybody to read and to hear and they
just won't let Him in. That's not it at all. That's
not it at all. And He's going to go on to say,
this is why. And this is what we heard this morning too. That
God Almighty had to choose. He had to choose whom he would
reveal himself to. And if you know him, if I know
him, how blessed we are. This is more than a doctrine.
It's our salvation. It's unto salvation. Chosen unto
salvation, to be saved. And the first thing we hear,
Jeanette, is that God did the choosing, don't we? Isn't that
the first thing you heard? Isn't that the first thing that
you heard concerning the true God? That you didn't choose me,
I chose you, he said. It's not your will, it's my will. That your will is to pray. That's
what God tells us in Romans 1-3. Your will is nothing but evil.
But I will have mercy. I'm getting way ahead of myself. Well, and look at verses 7 through
8. He says, Not because of the seed
of Abraham are they all children, but in Isaac shall thy seed be
called. That is, they which are the children
of the flesh, these are not the children of God. Every human
being is not a child of God. And if you tell the average person
that, they'll get very angry with you. Well, we didn't say
that. God did. Our Lord said one time
to some Jews. He said it twice, actually. He said, you are of your father,
the devil. To some Jews. Well, I thought
all men and women were God's children. That's not so. That's
not what this tells us. He said another time, he said,
if God were your father, you'd love me. If God were the father
of all people today, they would all know the truth. They'd all
be taught of the God, and they would all love God. But Romans
says no. Chapter 1 and 8 says they hate
God. But God set His love on some. Well, the
children of the promise, these are the seeds. Look at it, verse
8, the last line, the children of the promise, that is, God
Almighty made a covenant long before the world with His Son. Here's what God said, I have
chosen a people. as the stars of the sky and as
the sand of the seashore, and I have given them to you, my
son. You go to earth in time to be
made flesh, to be made sin for them, to bear their sins in your
body on the tree, to bring in an everlasting righteousness,
to impute to their account You save every one of, you redeem
every single one of these chosen people of mine, and you come
back to glory. I'll send the Holy Spirit. He'll
round them up. He'll put Christ in them, He'll
regenerate them, and they'll all be brought back. That's the
promise. They're my seed. They're my children. They're all my children. I've
chosen them. I've adopted them. I'll give them new birth. They're
my seed. Christ, you're the seed. They'll
all come from you, through you, through your rib and side, through
your water and blood, and from your redemption, from your righteousness.
They'll all come from you. You're the seed, and in thy seed
shall my seed be called. That's the promise. God who cannot
lie has promised. That's how it is. Those are my
children. My children. The ones I've chosen.
Now, look, read on. He goes in depth here. He tells
the story of Abraham and Sarah and Rebekah and Isaac and their
children and how God chose one and then the other. Read it with
me again. Verse 9, this is the word of promise. God said, at
this time will I come and Sarah shall have a son. He says this
to Abraham. Not only this, but now, let me
stop just a second. Abraham had two sons, didn't
he? And Galatians goes in depth about that. He had Isaac and
Ishmael. Both of those are sons of God.
No. You know there's a whole generation
and a whole religion that claims to be the sons of Abraham from
Israel? That's the Muslim world. That's
not the son of Prophet. That's not the son of Prophet.
You say that today, but it was in Isaac. God chose Isaac. He said, get
rid of. Hagar and Ishmael, although he
was merciful to them. But he would be merciful to whom
he willed. He chooses whom he willed. That's the fact. Alright? Most Americans don't have trouble
with that. Do they? That God chose Isaac. Alright, hold on. Read on. He
said, not only this, verse 10, but when Rebekah, that's Isaac's
wife, when Rebekah had conceived by one, even by her father Isaac,
Now before they were born, he said, before the children were
yet born, they hadn't done any good or evil that the purpose
of God according to election might stand, must stand. It's not of works, but of Him
to call it. It was said unto her, verse 12,
from Genesis 25, the elder shall serve the younger. Esau shall serve Jacob. As it is written, Malachi 1,
Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Hated. It says the purpose of God according
to election. Purpose. Would you turn with
me to 2 Timothy chapter 1. 2 Timothy chapter 1. There's a whole movement afoot
talking about purpose and purpose-driven life. Real popular today. Purpose. You must have purpose. God has a purpose for you. You
need to have a purpose-driven life. And what they mean by that?
is that you need to have some direction, you need to have something
in mind, some goal in mind, and try to reach that goal. That's
not the purpose of God. That's not what he's talking
about, the purpose of God. When we talk about, when God
talks about the purpose of God, He's talking about His will,
He's talking about that covenant, He's talking about what God Almighty
determined and said and put into into action long before the world
began, and none are going to change. It's not a hope to, a
want to by God. It's not a goal in mind that
can be thwarted. It's God's eternal will and purpose,
which He purposed in Himself without consulting anybody before
the world began. And he said, I've spoken it,
I will do it. My purpose shall stand. Purpose! If we ever hear who
God is, we'll hear that God Almighty does all things, and He does
them on purpose. There's no accidents, there's
no chance, there's no contingency, there's nothing to thwart, nothing
to mess up, nothing to change, but it's all going according
to His scheduled purpose. And I hollered that on purpose. Because that was what you heard,
wasn't it? A young Arminian, or just a, if you don't know
what Arminian is, it means a preacher who believes God loves everybody,
Christ died for everybody, everybody's a child of God, and God wants
to save them, and they won't let Him. Won't you let Jesus
into your heart? That's what my pastor preached,
and so many, all the other preachers I know, until God, on purpose, God sent a preacher to that man,
an old, he wasn't old at the time, wasn't 40 or 45 years old. You thought he was old. He was
23. Sent him, sent that preacher from North Carolina to Ashland,
Kentucky, and he had him stand up as a young man, read Romans
8, 28. And he stood up. And this is what happened. He
stood up and said, but we know that all things work together
for good, for them who love God. And he sat down. Didn't he? And Barnard said, hold it. And he said, get up. You didn't quote it all. Quote
the rest of it. Well, he got up and he said,
But we know that all things work together for good to them that
love God, who have called according to his purpose. And he said,
when you were there, he said, Purpose! That young preacher
said, purpose at the top of his lungs. He said, God Almighty
does all things on purpose. He said, learn something about
God who does things on purpose. You'll know something about the
God of the Bible. He's not a bystander in the affairs
of men. He's not standing by waiting
on anybody to do anything for Him. He's the God who'll work
out all things after the counsel of His own will and purpose. And no one can stay His hand
or say, you can't do that. Because He doesn't. This is the
God of the Bible. And this is more than a doctrine.
This is the only hope that we have. He said, Brother Stephen,
our God reigns and rules. This world is not out of His
control. It's absolutely under His sovereign
control. It doesn't have to give you hope.
It's concerning your children. It's concerning yourself. Terrorists
can't do anything except by His sovereign purpose. Isn't that
hard to cope? Who could have any hope, any
comfort, any peace, believing that God doesn't want something
to happen? It happens anyway. Who needs
a God like that? I need a God who says, I am working
all things according to my purpose, and no matter how evil it may
seem, how bad it may seem to you, it's all working together
for your good, the good of my people, and fulfilling my will,
and nothing can change it. Come hell or high water, it won't
be changed. Because I don't care. purpose. Where was that? 2 Timothy 1, look at there, verse
9. Verse 8, he's, now Paul's in
prison. Why? Because God put him there. Now you say, no, the Jews, the
Jews had him incarcerated and the Romans put him in jail. No,
he said, I'm the prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ. God put
him there so we have Second, the relations of Fijian Philippians
philosophy. God put him there on purpose
so that we would have this church here. Gentile. Verse 8, he's saying to a young
man, don't be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor me,
his prisoner. Be thou a partaker of the afflictions
of the gospel. You see, if you preach this gospel,
if you preach this God, if you preach the truth, our Lord said
you shall be hated by all men. You shall, not I might be, not
I won't. It might happen, you shall be.
But you said that's alright, because Christ said they hated
me. What for? Not for a good word, because he said he was God. Not
in man's hands, but there in his hands. And they said, no sir, you're
in our hands and we'll put you on that tree and put you out
of business. Who put him on that tree? Peter preached at Pentecost.
He said, you with wicked hands have taken and crucified the
Lord with glory, but you did what God Almighty determined
first before to be done. That's the God of the Bible. That's the Christ of the Scripture.
He's not Jesus wanting to, hoping, wishing, standing outside your
heart's door. He's seated on a throne, and
the earth is His. That's the Lord Jesus Christ
of the Spirit. Not hoping, wishing, waiting
for His purpose and His will to be accomplished. And it will. He's the testator of that will.
He ensures that it all comes to pass. Read on, 2 Timothy 1. Verse 8, Be not ashamed or be
a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God. The gospel is of the power of
God. Whom hath saved us and called
us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. Did you look at that? All right, go back to our text.
Go back to our text. All right? Our Lord said this. He said in verse 12, it was said
unto Rebekah, the elder shall serve the younger. Before these
children were born, says God said, Malachi 1, Jacob have I
loved, but Esau have I hated. Now, the word love does not mean
to love less. I mean hate. The word hate here
does not mean to love less. That's what a lot of ignorant
men... Peter called them unlearned and
unstable. They rest the Scriptures to their
own destruction. God can't love anybody less. Can He? God's perfect. God's love is perfect. I have
loved thee with an everlasting love." Whoever he's talking to
there, his love can't fail. It can't be less. You can't love
one less than another. Even us with our children, Brother
Mike, you love Elizabeth more than, what's his name there? Davis? No, you can't. That's not any father or mother
to do that. She may be more lovely than him. No, I'm just kidding. Mandy, did you see her shake
her head? David? She's kind of fond of you. The rest of us aren't. But you
can't love one less. God, the Father, can't love somebody
less. Hate means hate. Our Lord said they'll hate you.
Does that mean love less? He said, they'll kill you. Is
that less love? I don't want that. Jacob have
I loved, Esau have I hated. Read on. All right? That's what
God's Word said. Very plainly. Verse 14. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? It's not fair. That's what that means. That's
not right. That's not right. I don't like that. Well, I wish
you did like that. Because, you know, a person's
understanding, knowledge of God, the state of their soul before
God depends on whether or not they like this. Am I right? To them that love
God, Romans 8, 28. What does that mean? Love God's
right to be God. Love the fact that God is God. Love it. And love the truth that
God Almighty chose a people. God elected a people. Who loves
that? I'll tell you who. The elected. I'd say, no. I'd say, I don't like that. Well,
if you're one of His elect, you will. You will. You will. Count it. Write it down. You cannot be one of God's own
and not love the fact that God does what He will with His own.
Isn't that what He said? Cannot I do with my own what
I will? Yes, and He does. And if you ever realize that
and bow and fall before Him and repent to this God in whose hands
our breath is and all our way, you'll find mercy. You'll find
grace. And you'll find out that He's
the one that made you bow. He's the one that made you believe.
He chose you. And gave Christ to die for you.
Everything is just wonderful for you according to His purpose. What shall we say then? What
do you say to these things? Is that not right? Abraham said
this right before God Almighty destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. God Almighty destroyed about
a million people, persons. Does that sound like love? It's
not. Except to the babies that died. But God Almighty destroyed. And
he basically saved one man, and Scripture says he delivered just
one. One. Half. He chose one. And right before that, Abraham
is pleading with God for the city, and he says, here's what
he says, "...shall not the God of the earth do right?" He will. He'll do right. Yes, he will. Every time. What he does is right.
You see, what God does is right, not because we think it's right,
but because he does it. Because he's God. Alright, read
on. Read on. I've got to hurry. I want to get down here. It says,
he said, God said to Moses, verse 15, I will have mercy on whom
I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will
have compassion. Read on. So then it's not of
him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but it's of God
that showeth mercy. Man doesn't have free will. God
does. It's not of him that willeth. What about whosoever will? What
about whosoever will? Well, I'll tell you about the
whosoever will. Okay? Philippians 2.13 says it
is God which worketh in us both to will. That's whosoever will. The ones who God chose. And they
will it. Psalm 110 verse 3. It's not of
him that will it. Because our Lord said you will
not. Come unto me. He said, no man
can. He said, you will not. But all that the Father giveth
me will come to thee. And him that cometh to me, I
will. And no wise can stand. That's
the Father's will. And you can't change it. Isn't
that wonderful? That's why no man can pluck him
out of my hand, he said. No man. That's what my father
said. He said, it's not of him that runneth but of God that
showeth mercy. Here's the whole problem. Here's the whole problem. Man doesn't believe he's that
sinful. Man believes God ought to love
him, doesn't he? That's the problem. And that's
the problem. God looked down upon the children
of men, Psalm 14 says, to see if there were any. He said, none. None guilty. Altogether become
guilty. Now, what'd he say about them?
But God. God Almighty says, I will show
mercy. He doesn't have to. God doesn't
have to save anybody. People don't deserve a chance
to be saved. If you deserve salvation, it will be mercy. Mercy is not
getting what we deserve. Wrath, judgment. Grace is getting
what we don't deserve. A full righteousness. A perfect
redemption. Christ provided all that. That's
the grace of God. And God says, I will show mercy.
It's mercy. It's wonderful mercy that God
Almighty said, I will show mercy. I am a merciful God. I delight
to show mercy. on whom I will. And he says, I will be gracious
to whom I will. So what do we say of these things?
It goes on to say, someone will argue this. Why
does he find fault, you know, if it's his will, and we're working
according to his will, and so we're just robots here, and how
can he find fault then if we're, and what does Paul say? What
did Paul, how did he answer that? Basically he said, shut up. Didn't he? God doesn't give an account of
his manner. He said, who are you to reply against me? Shall
the thing formed say to him that made it? You can't do that. Oh,
he said we didn't go to the potter's house. And watch the potter as
he puts a lump of clay on the wheel. He make it however he
purposes to make it then. And nobody knows until he makes
it. He can make a vessel of honor,
put a rose in it. Vessel of dishonor, chamber pot.
Both serve his purpose. Oh, you can't do that. Potter,
you're the clay. Clay has no say. I'm the potter. I'm God, and
beside me there's none else. When Christ came, he said, I'm
God. I'm the Son of God, equal with the Father. And I've come
to save all that the Father has given me. And I will. And I did. And I do. Now, that's the truth. And there's not enough time to
tell it all about it. In a nutshell, God is God. We're not. God does all things
on purpose, according to His will. It's not our will. God
gave everything to Christ, and Christ did it. He did the work. He saved His people. And in time,
He sends the Sovereign Spirit who rounds up all those who have
the blood of Christ, all the elect of God who have the blood
of Jesus Christ applied to them, gives them repentance, gives
them faith, gives them a new man, a new creature in Christ,
He doesn't. They're born of God, he said.
They don't get themselves born. They're born of God. And in time,
Christ will come for all the elect, and someday, before God
Almighty, present all the children. Remember, we're talking about
children, the children of God. And Christ said, Behold, I and
the children which thou hast given me, which ones? All of
them, not one of them missing. That's the purpose of God, according
to election. Let's turn to hymn number 221 and stand together. We'll sing the first and last
verse, 221. and speak, but I would praise
Him for His grace.