Romans chapter 9. Brother Todd Nybert told me recently
of preaching from this text and we looked at it together and talked
it over and I enjoyed looking at it with him and could not
get it off my mind. I thought you might like to,
might enjoy studying it today. Brother Todd also told me a story. He said that there was a man
attending the services there, had been attending for some time.
It's obvious the man was interested, was seeking to know the truth. And upon hearing Brother Nybert
preach from this passage, Upon hearing him preach from Romans
9, the man met him at the door and said, You've just answered
all my questions. And he was rejoicing, the man
was. And there's nothing wrong with asking questions. There's
nothing wrong in seeking answers as long as we are sincerely seeking
the truth. As long as we're not subjecting
God's Word to our reasoning and arguing, God won't answer somebody
that argues. No. God's Word is to be believed. God's Word is to be believed,
whether we understand it or not. It's not to be questioned. It's
not to be scrutinized or carefully or subjected to human reasoning. That's the reason people don't
understand that you don't approach God's Word that way. God does not prove himself to
scoffers and arguers. He does not prove himself. No,
sir. Besides, now, God's Word, listen,
God's Word is His Spirit. This is not just a book. He said His sheep will hear His
voice. Not just symbolically, but they're
going to hear Him speak. This is His voice. This is God's Word. That's why
it says the Word of God is alive. He speaks through this book,
but and this book, it's not a book of facts that if you just believe
the facts and you'll just. Study it, reason it out, and
so it's a two plus two is four, therefore, I believe no, sir.
It's a revelation from God. You understand what I'm just saying?
And this is how he speaks to human beings. And may he speak
to us this morning. May he reveal himself from this
word. Now, what this book says from
cover to cover, what God says to his people, the thing he continually
makes known to his people is, I am God. This is eternal life, our Lord
said, that they might know thee the only true God. And so he declares himself in
Isaiah 43, he said, I've chosen you. He said this about his people,
I've chosen you that you might know that I'm me. And so that's
what this book from cover to cover says to his people, I'm
God. The world looks at it, argues
it, backtalks it, reasons it away, explains it away, and they
don't believe God. They don't believe there is a
God. But the conception they have of Him is He ain't much
of a God, is He, John? God's people. And this is what
He says from cover to cover. And this is what He impresses
on their minds and hearts, and they know He's God. My God. And there's no chapter in this
whole book that declares this more plainly than Romans 9. I'm
God. And much to the displeasure of this world, to the arguments of and the backtalk,
gainsaying of this unbelieving world who doesn't believe God,
Romans 9 stands, and it stands to the peace and the joy and
the comfort and the gladness of God's people. Romans 9. I love it. I love it. My favorite chapter this morning.
Romans 9. All right. Paul is the writer,
the instrument of God. Verses 1 through 3, he says,
I say the truth in Christ. If you preach Christ, like Paul
said, I am determined not to know anything among you save
Christ. Well, buddy, whatever the man is saying, it's truth.
Right? If that man preaches Christ,
I mean, points men to Christ and Christ alone. Who he is,
what he's done, where he is now, it's the truth. I say the truth
in Christ, I lie not. There's no lie of the truth.
My conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, the
Holy Ghost bears witness that I have great heaviness and continual
sorrow in my heart. This is a man you can listen
to, a man who's burdened for your soul, not after your money. That's what Paul said one time,
didn't it? He said, I don't want yours.
I don't want what you can give me, I want you. Read on. He said, I could, if I could,
I would wish myself a curse from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen,
according to the black, who are Israelite. You can listen to a man like
that, can't you? A man with such an attitude as that? He's saying,
I would, if I could, I would trade places with My lost kinsman." Well, you know, he's a type of
Christ there, isn't he? Isn't he? That's a man you can
listen to, a Christ-like man, because that's what Christ did.
Didn't he? Christ was made a curse for his
people. Well, read on up. This is just
showing the absolute sincerity of this man, this God-sent preacher
of the gospel. If this chapter had a key verse,
it would be verse 11. You want to run down there real
quick. Verse 11 says that children being not yet born, and in it,
it's significant, it's in parenthesis. What God puts in parenthesis
is the key to this whole thing, because it's hidden. He reveals this hidden truth
between the lines. But here it is, verse 11, the
children being not yet born, either having done any good or
evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand. This is the key to this whole
Romans 9. The purpose of God according
to election is going to stand. OK? Keep that in your
mind. That's what this whole chapter is about. The purpose
of God according to election. Now, election is absolutely necessary. It's absolutely necessary that
God chose to save some. Absolutely. To the salvation
of any. And we're going to see why. All
right, verse 4. Paul says the Israelites are my kinsmen. according
to the flesh. The Israelites, to whom pertaineth
the adoption? That is, God adopted them as
his people. He called them his people, children. All right? He called
them that. Chosen by God out of the world,
were they not? Yes, they were. Chosen by God
out of the world, not the Jebusites, Hivites, Hittites, Perizzites,
and so on. Not the Philistine. Children
of Israel. Sons of Jacob. Sons of Abraham. Okay? Right? No argument there. God chose the Israelites, but
not... Now, we're going to see, not
every one of those were saved people. He's going to show us
this. He chose them that the purpose
of God according to election might stand. He has an elect. He has one elect, John. Isaiah
42, Behold, mine elect. One person. Seed, senior. And all will be chosen in Him. Are you with me? That's Christ. God's chosen one. We are accepted
in him. We're chosen, Ephesians 4, 1,
4 says, according as he had chosen us in him before the foundation
of the world. Are you with me? So, but he chose
this nation of Israel from whom the Christ would come. He had to narrow it down. He's
narrowing it down. OK. All right. Read on. Now, it doesn't mean because
all of these were Jews, they were saved. It doesn't mean that
any more than it means that all the Gentiles out there are lost. Got the purpose of God according
to that. All right. Adoption, it says in verse four.
The glory, that's the tabernacle of God's presence. And the covenants,
testaments, the law, giving of the law, the service of God,
the promises. You know, the Genesis through Deuteronomy. The law of Moses
contains all the will, the mind of God about worship, sacrifices,
how you to worship God, how God is known, the mind, the will,
the purpose of God. Well, he gave that to the Jews.
OK. Nobody else, except those who
he sovereignly brought in to hear it. All right, read on.
Whose, verse five, are the fathers? Verse five. Whose are the fathers? The Israelites, the fathers.
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. And of whom, that is, of the
Jews, as concerning the flesh, Christ came. The Son of God came
from this lineage. The children of Abraham, who
is God blessed forever. Amen. All right. Now, verse six. Now, it's not as though the word
of God had taken none effect, for they are not all Israel,
which are of Israel. All right. How many? They were wandering through the
wilderness. You know the story. The children of Israel wandered
through the wilderness for years. Forty years. OK. Most of them did not go in the
promised land. Most of them did not go in the
promised land. They didn't believe God. It says
that God, they were not going to go in because they did not
believe. That's what Hebrews 4, 2, 3,
and 4 tell us. That they didn't enter because
of unbelief. That's what Romans 9, the last
part of it, says. All right? Why didn't they believe? They had all these evidences,
signs. Why didn't they believe? Where
does faith come from? It's a gift of God. It's a gift
of God. You give it to whomsoever you
will. Faith. Two people entered in. The promised land. Joshua and Caleb. Over twenty. That's a whole other
story by itself. Joshua is the Old Testament word
for Jesus. Caleb means dog, faithful dog.
So the master and his faithful dog are the only ones going in
the promised land. Not unbelievers. And the story
is that Caleb believed, he believed, and Joshua let him in. And all
those young ones, children, you see, believed. Children received. Not these gang sayers and backtalkers
and adults. God's people are children. Children. And they received. They believed.
All right? Christ came of the seed of Abraham. All right? Verse 6, it says,
Because they didn't believe doesn't mean the Word of God took no
effect. But they are not all Israel which
are of Israel. Just because they're Jews doesn't
mean they're Jews. Now, turn quickly back to Romans
2, all right? Romans chapter 2. I hope I'm
not losing you. I'm trying to make this simple
and understandable. If you'll stay with me, if you'll
stay with the text. I wrote myself a big note there.
Stay with the text. Because there's so much to go
off on here. Romans 2. Says in verse 28, He
is not a Jew which is one outwardly. Neither is circumcision. That
was the mark of a Jew. That's what distinguished a Jew
from a Gentile. He says it's not outward. Verse
29, He's a Jew which is one inwardly. Now God chose, you see, God chose
the Jews. Did He not? Not salvation, not
a national people. Not all Jews are going to be
saved. Christ came from their lineage.
He chose that for a purpose. All of His Word and His covenant,
His fulfillment and all that of His purpose. And a Jew, you see, was one that
God chose. Well, all who are saved are the
ones God chooses. And this circumcision, this sign,
this mark of who was God's true chosen, it's not outward. Not
every male child that's circumcised is saved. But he said circumcisions
of the heart. Who can circumcise the heart?
Who can operate on the heart? Who can make something happen
in the heart to prove that they're a child of God? God alone. Salvation for the Lord, he said.
His choice, his operation, it's of God. He chooses whom he will,
he operates on them, he makes them his people. That's what
this whole book is about. All right? You still with me?
All right, go back to the text. Romans 9. Go back to the text. I'm trying to teach you Romans
9 this morning. All right? Now, he says in verse
They're not all Israel, which are of Israel. But the true Jews,
God's true chosen, now they're going to be saved. Paul said
that in another place. All Israel's going to be saved. Verse 7, he said, Now neither
because they're the seed of Abraham are they all children, but in
Isaac shall thy seed be called. Now isn't this relevant right
now in this day and age? Huh? Are you reading about all
this? All our religious scholars and everybody is arguing about
this, aren't they? The Arabs, the Islamic world,
they believe Abraham. They all believe they're Abraham's
children. They come from Ishmael. They
do. They literally do come from the
tribe of Ishmael. The Jews, we're from Jacob. sons of Jacob. Jacob's name was
changed to Israel. OK? You've got all these peoples.
We're the people of God. We come from Abraham. Not Jacob,
but Israel. No, we're the people of God.
We come from Abraham. Just because you're children
of Abraham doesn't mean you're the people of God. That's what
Paul's saying. Read on. He does say, though,
that in Isaac shall thy seed be called. Isaac. Verse 8, read on. They which
are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of
God, but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. For this is the word of promise.
This is what God said in the beginning. At this time will
I come and Sarah shall have a son. Right? Let me just refresh your
memory about this story. You remember it, but back, Abraham,
God came to Abraham, chose Abraham. He's a type of all God's elect. God chose Abraham. He was a 75-year-old
idolater. God came to him and revealed,
I'm God. Not these idols you're worshiping.
I'm your God, and I've chosen you to know me, and I'm going
to reveal myself to you from here on out. You will see my
power and my glory. All right. God made a promise
to Abraham. He said, I'm going to give you
a son. Abraham didn't have any children. He didn't have any
children. He was married to a woman named
Sarah. Didn't have any children. God said, I'm going to give you
a son. And from your seed, from thy seed, my seed will be called. My people,
my son. Your Savior will come from your
seat, the seat of Abraham. All right. Well, 15 years went
by. No child. Abraham and Sarah trying to have
no child. So. Sarah came up with an idea. Sarah said, this is a woman's Here's what we'll do, Abraham.
God said we would have a son, and that our posterity would
come from this son. Maybe God meant for us to take
matters in our own hands. Maybe God needs our help. Maybe
this is a cooperative effort between God and us. Maybe we're
to use human means. OK, there's my servant, Hagar,
a bondwoman, an Egyptian, a slave, not a free woman, a slave. There she is, Abraham. You go
into her and maybe she can conceive and we'll have our son. Abraham
said, good idea. Anyway, Abraham went in. to Hagar,
and they had a child, a son. We've got our son. We've got
the promise seat. No, you don't. You did what man
thought he ought to do. You've got this idea that we're
going to help God out. We're going to have a son. This
is the blessings of God are going to come through our works and
our hands. No, sir. God said, Sarah shall
have a son. That's what that's saying. This
is the promise. Sarah, your rightful wife, your
freeborn wife, the wife in the eyes of God, lawful wife, lawful
way between a man and his wife. She's going to have a son. And that's my chosen, not what
you've come up with. That was their doing. And then
after a while, past. Abraham was 100 years old. Now,
with man, it's impossible for a 100-year-old woman. She was
90 years old. A 90-year-old woman can't have
a child, can she? It's impossible. She did. Why? God said so. God showed
us that with man it's impossible. You can't You can't conceive. You can't do this. You can't
do anything. You certainly can't save yourself.
You're going to be saved by a miracle. You're going to be saved by God,
not your own doings. Now, all these contrived methods
of man and religion, the works of the flesh, gimmicks, tricks,
try to get people to say, people, salvation is up in the Lord.
Salvation comes in God's appointed time, according to God's appointed
means. How's that? See the word planted
by God. Abraham went into his wife time
and time again, no child, no child, until finally he said,
it's useless. God said, now comes the child. God's the one that Cause that
conception in a woman with a 90 year old woman. Here's this miracle
child. Born of God. God did this, there's
no doubt about it. Are you getting the picture here?
Salvation? Man has no part in it. No part. As a matter of fact, and it's
not written here, but it is in Hebrews and Galatians. Very carefully,
it's written where that God said to Abraham and to Sarah, get
rid of Ishmael. Get him out of here. He can have
no part with the Son. By grace are you saved. Through faith. And that is not
of yourselves. Not of works. It's a gift of
God. Not of works. Lest any man should
boast. Are you seeing the truth here?
Any works of man got to go, got to go, got to go. You're going
to be saved by the Son, and that's Christ. All right? Now go back to verse 9. It says, this is the word of
promise. Sarah shall have a son. All right?
So God chose Isaac. Did he not? God chose Abraham and God chose
Isaac, not Ishmael. Verse 10, Rebekah conceived by
her father Isaac. Isaac grew up. Ishmael had to
leave. And Ishmael did become that Arabic
world. That doesn't mean all Arabs are...
There's no elect Arabs. It doesn't mean that. They went
on down here to say that they're Gentiles saved too. That they're
going to be elected. They are. And then just because
they're Jews doesn't mean they're God's people either. But some
of them are. All right. Now, Isaac grew up
and God provided him a wife. There's a lady sitting on the
back row, and I know this is her favorite story. Rebecca.
The family down here front is about to be one of their favorite.
Isaac, promised son. Well, Isaac was married. God provided miraculously,
and that's one of my favorite stories. Rebecca to be his bride. All right, Rebecca conceived
by Isaac. She was pregnant. And God told
her, God came to her. and said, you're pregnant and
there's two people in your womb. There's two, you got twins. And God said to her, look at
verse 11, verse 11 and 12, the children being not yet born,
neither having done any good or evil, this was before they
were born, that the purpose of God according to election might
stand. It's not of works, but it's of
God that called God said unto her, to Rebekah, the elder shall
serve the younger. Read on. As it is written, Jacob
have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Rebekah had twins in her womb
before they came out of the womb, before they had done any good
or evil. Is that what this is? If you're
with me, nod your head. All right. God said to her, Jacob
have I loved. it's all that's the other one
i hate no explanation god doesn't make you and the rest of this chapter
is going to tell us that if he's gone he doesn't give explanation All right, Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. And it does not mean, when it
says he hated Esau, if you read it for yourself in Malachi 1,
read it for yourself later on. It does not mean he loved him
less. These fools out there called
preachers say that that word hate means love less. Some might hate you, but just
love you less. Oh, come on. Come on. Hate means hate. If you read
Malachi 1, you'll see that it does mean hate, because he said,
I'm going to lay him waste. Besides, God can't love one less
than another. Huh? You have children, do you? You love one more than the other?
No. No. And what people have trouble
with about this, well, God's people don't. But what the arguers
have trouble with is they say this is not fair. It's not fair
for God to hate Esau. People, that's not That's not
the amazing thing. That's not. That's not hard for
me to understand. If you read the story about Esau,
one time he came in from hunting. He was out all night hunting.
And he was hungry. And his brother was fixing a
mess of beans, a pot of beans. His brother was fixing bean soup.
Esau came in from hunting all night. And Jacob, though he was
a sneak and a cheat, Jacob said to him, I'll give you something
to eat if you'll Just sell out. Sell your soul. That's basically
what he said. You know, all of this birthright,
our father's religion. I don't think either boy had
really a clue at the time. Anyway, all our father's religion,
you know, all the covenant rights to the oldest son and the leadership
in the home and the priest of the home and God's blessings
and all that goes with the birthright of the oldest child, the favor
of the Father and the wisdom, the leadership and all that,
give that to me. Give it to me. Our Father's religion. Forsake it, I'll give you a mess
of beans and a sausage. What do I need with that old
birthright? from understanding why God hated
Esau? Esau said, I don't care anything
about God. Do you have any problem, Mary, understanding why God hated
Esau? Well, it says before they were born. Listen to me. God should have hated Jacob. All men, Scripture says, all
men are It's grass. All flesh is grass. Does it come
forth from the womb speaking lies like Jacob? All men by nature,
Romans 8, 7, hate God. Imitate Him. Natural man is an
imitator against God. They're dead and trespassers.
There's none good. No, not one, God said. There's
none righteous. No, not one. God looked down
from heaven to see if there was any that didn't understand. Any
that wanted God. He said there's none. There's
none that want God. It's unbelievable that God loves
anybody. It's not a problem understanding
why God hated me when I hated God. Is it you that know yourselves? When you spent twenty or thirty
years without giving God one word of thanks, without giving God the time of
day, if you will, is it any problem understanding why God would hate
anybody? That's not the problem. with the amazing thing, amazing
mercy and grace. And that's what this chapter
is about. Mercy at the hands of a God who ought to kill us
all. The amazing thing is that he'd take an old worm, an old
worthless, good-for-nothing, cheat, lying scoundrel like Jacob
and say, I love you, boy. I love you. I've set my love
upon you. Yea, I've loved thee with an
everlasting love. with loving-kindness. I'm going
to woo you. I'm going to draw you. You ain't
no different, Lisa. You're not worth living, but
you're mine. You ain't nothing but a pound
dog, but I chose you, and you're mine. And I'm going to love you,
and you're going to love me for doing it. You're going to love
me for choosing you. You're going to love me for sparing
you. Let me find somebody else this is getting a hold of. You're
going to love me for the fact that I chose you out of the world. The purpose of God according
to election, and you're in that purpose. I passed by a whole world of
people and chose you. Yeah, you, Jacob. Jacob said, I mean, why me? Well, God said it, Jacob have
I loved, Esau have I hated. That's not unfair, is it, at
all? Is that unfair? Well, some say that, verse fourteen,
look at it, this is what people say. What shall we say then? What do you say? Is there unrighteousness
with God? Unfair. That's not fair. Every
man deserves a chance to be saved. No, they don't. No, they don't. Men don't deserve anything. I'll say it again. Brother Barnard, Say it. Anything this side of hell is
mercy. Mercy. Is there unfairness with God?
It's not possible. No, God forbid. It can't be. God is not unfair. God is righteous. God is just. That's what unfair
means, unjust. That's not right. You can't do
that. God is fair. God is righteous. God is just
in all that he does. That's what he is. He's the righteous
one. That's the foolish talk of fools. The foolish talk of fools is
to say, well, that's unfair. David said it. The fool has said,
no, God, no, you can't do that. Or there's no God. No, there
is no God. Or the fool says that's unfair.
God can't do what he will with his creatures. John, you can't go. No, don't
you go home now. Don't you go home and get in
your house and eat your food and do what you will with your
stuff. That's not fair. That's mine. I'm coming home and I want what's
coming to me. You fool. That's yours. Down in verse 21. He says, Hath not the potter
power over the clay? Well, look at verse 20. O man,
who art thou that replies against God? Shall the thing formed say
to him that formed it, that made it? Why have you done this? You
can't do that. You can't love this one. You
can't choose it. But he can, and he did. That's what he said. And he said,
Christ said in another place, cannot I do with my own what
I will? Am I subject to their will? No. They are subject to my will. You see, my will will be done
in heaven and in earth. I reign and rule among the armies
of heaven and in heaven and earth, and none can stay my hand or
say unto me, you can't do that. I can and I do. That's because
I'm God. And the sooner you know that,
the better. And he said in verse 15, this
is why he said to Moses, look at it now. Verse fifteen, he
said to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. What
does mercy mean? I said before that if you'd understand
the word mercy, you'd understand something of the whole, the whole
thing. Just understand the word mercy.
Mercy is not something you deserve. Mercy is not a right. It's not a right. Mercy is not
getting what you deserve. Mercy is being spared what is
rightfully yours. And Paul said back in Romans
3, and he spent all those chapters declaring and proving the guilt
of man, did he not? The deadness of man, the guilt
of man. And he said, all the world's
guilty before God. All right, let me give you an illustration.
If everybody's guilty, mercy has to be sovereign. Huh? If everybody's guilty and
some, but to not die and not be condemned and not be damned
or punished, God's going to have to choose who He is, isn't He?
None of them deserve it. Let me give you an illustration. Here's a death row. Death row. Bunch of criminals on death row.
Ten criminals on death row. They're guilty. The law has found
them guilty. They have been tried, convicted,
and they're awaiting sentence of death. All right? That's what
the Scripture says about us. The wages of sin is death. All right, there's ten criminals,
all right? Do you know that the President of the United States,
only the President of the United States, can grant a death row
pardon to whoever he will? Do you remember when Clinton
was leaving office, how he began to get all his buddies off the
hook? Anyway, the highest office in
the land, the President of the United States, can say, I have
decided that Jimmy Johnson down there on death row in San Quentin
is not going to die. I am the president. And nobody
can say anything about it. You know what? Not fair! I did it. All right? Let's say he chose six out of ten. Wouldn't that be wonderful? I know six fellows that would
be so happy, that would be shouting the praises of the President,
don't you? Who's going to cry unfairly? That's not fair. You chose that. Oh, now wait a minute. They didn't deserve it either.
And you sure don't deserve it. Do you get the picture there?
I think that's a very good illustration. The only ones trying unfair against
God's sovereign election are the non-elections. But none of
them deserve it. You see that? None of them deserve
it. They're all guilty. The elect were guilty as charged. But God, who's rich in mercy,
for His great love wherewith He loved them, quickened them
by His grace. By grace He's saved. Quickened together with Christ.
What does that mean? It means Christ took their place. That's why Christ... When God...
Why did Christ die? He became my substitute. He got on death row for all of
God's elect on death row. Christ got on death row. But
God didn't spare His own Son. He plunged the knife of justice
in His Son's breath, killed Him. The soul that sinneth must surely
die. Thou hast made His soul an offering for sin. But I go
free. Christ didn't. He was killed. But I'll never die at the hands
of God. Never. Even when this body lays
down, I'm not dead. Never die. He said that, didn't
he, Nancy? That's a promise. Never die. Go to God who made
you and live eternally with God. With death and hell and all non-elect,
non-believers will be cast in the lake of fire. Well, now he said, look at verse
16, verse 15, I will have mercy on whom I will. You see that?
That's not hard to understand, is it? I'm going to spare who
I decide to. It's mercy and it's a miracle.
He's sparing anybody in the tent. If God elected one human being
out of the whole human race, I know one man that would be
screaming to high heaven, blessed be God, Accordingly, they have
chosen me in Christ before the foundation of the world. How
to be in hell with the rest of the zillions? But no, God has
chosen. It's not fair, unfair, is it?
Is it unfair? He has chosen a people as the
stars in the sky, as the sands in the sea. Not fair, not fair. What if I'm
none of the elect? Why aren't you? Why not? If he chose one, why
not me? He's just a sinner. He's an undeserving
sinner. If he chose three trillion, I
just might be in that number, do you reckon? Now, I've deserved
it. It's all by mercy. I need mercy. Why not me? Well, but it's his
divine prerogative to show it to whom he will. Verse 16, "...so
that it is not of him that will it." Are you reading that with me? Blessed are your eyes, if they
are, it is not of him that willeth. If you will, will you accept
it? It is not of him that willeth. John 1, 13 said, Not of the will
of the flesh, not of the will of man, but it's of God. It's not of him that willeth,
or of him that runneth, or worketh, or trieth, or seeketh, not by
might, It's by my choice by my spirit. It's a God show. Blessed be his name. And if you
know God's people all are willing, though. They're all willing. After. The fact. After Psalm 110 three verse says
that people shall be willing. In the day of God power. They're all going to believe
the truth. They're all going to come to Christ. Come unto
me. Well, all the Father gives me
shall. All the Father chose shall. Come to me. And him that cometh
to me, I will have no wise cast out. Can't. They're in that covenant. They're one of the elect. Can
any of the elect ever repair it? No sirree, Bob. It's impossible. Well, if I believe that, no,
you wouldn't either. Whatever you say you'd do, you
wouldn't. You'll do whatever thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. It is God which worketh in us
both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Philippians 2
verse 10. It's God that worketh in us. If you repent, God granted
it to you. If you call on him, God caused
you to. If you ask for mercy, God led
you to. If you come to Christ, confess
him, God made you do that. Because he gets all the glory. See that? It's not of him that
will, it's of him that runs. Well, let me quit. It says down
here in verse... Now, these are not hard to understand.
Verse 17, he raised up Pharaoh just to dump him in the river.
You know that? He raised up Pharaoh, put him
in power, and showed all of his mighty works in him just to drown
him in a sea. Yes, he did. Unfair? Pharaoh was a rotten, no good,
idolatrous, wicked king. He got what was coming to him.
But he got what God determined for him to do. Hmm? Yes, sir. Verse 17, the purpose of God.
Verse 18, Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and
whom he will he hardeneth." All you've got to do to make
ground hard is to not rain on it, and let it get hard. And God withholds the rain from...
Christ said it, Father, you've hidden these things from the
wise and the prudent. You've hidden it from them. If our gospel
is hidden, it's hidden, then they're lost. God didn't choose them. They
didn't deserve to be judged. Neither did we. We don't. Thou
wilt then say, here's the argument, why does God find fault? God's
sovereign. He works in his will. Everything's
done according to his will. Then if his will be done, then
what's the use in me anything? That's what his argument is.
In fact, God's will, God's sovereign, and if only the elect are going
to be saved. his will be done then why preach or why this or why
that then there's nothing we can do about it no there is nothing you can do
about it but God's people will do what
he said to do seek me you'll find me they'll seek because
he causes them to And what Paul argued, or all that Paul answered
these arguers, and really, folks, this is all we need to say to
anyone who argues this. Verse 20, Paul said, O man, who
art thou that replies against God? In other words, in our modern
language, Paul said, you just ought to shut up. You just need to shut up. That's your whole problem. You
need to shut your mouth. You've got to open your ears. You see, everyone that believes
this does exactly what those that don't say they wouldn't
do. Did you understand that Ed? Let
me run that by you. Those that believe this do exactly
what those that don't say they wouldn't do. Well, if I believe
that, I wouldn't, I wouldn't pray. I wouldn't. No, no, no.
Everybody believes this, prays, calls, seeks, looks, comes, repents,
confesses, preaches. God's true preachers are the
most evangelical on earth. Yes, sir. go in all the world. Why? Because only elects are
going to be saved. Because there is an elect. And Christ said
they're everywhere and I'm going to find them and my voice is
how I'm going to find them. It's going to be through you.
So preach. They'll come. And these dry bones
live, you know. Well, preach. I've got an elect. Preach. I know where they are. I elect
them. You don't. So preach to all of them. Now
do you understand? But God's purpose according to
election must stand. It does stand. It does stand. Thank God. Thank God there is
an election. Huh? Sovereign saving election
by grace. All right. I went too long. Brother John,
you got him picked out? Two thirty.