Our two texts again are Jude
verse 1 and verse 1 through 4, and then flipping to Proverbs
chapter 16, and there, verse 4. A lot of others we'll come
to, but these we will begin with. And our subject again, did God
really reject some before the foundation of the world? Jude verse 1 one through four. Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ,
the brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the
Father and preserved in Christ Jesus and called. Mercy unto
you and peace and love be multiplied. Beloved, when I gave all diligence
to write unto you of the common salvation, It was needful for
me to write unto you and exhort you that you should earnestly
contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. Now watch in verse 4. For there
are certain men crept in unawares who were before of old ordained
to this condemnation. ungodly men, turning the grace
of our Lord God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God
and our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, notice the phrase in the
middle, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation. Now, Proverbs 16 and verse 4. The Lord hath made all things
for himself, yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. Now let's look at that again.
The Lord hath made all for himself, yea, even the wicked for the
day of evil. Because that sounds preposterous
for many, Solomon adds that, yes, even the wicked for the
day of evil. Now, I say that this is the hardest
of all of the subjects that we've taken up under the heading of
Did God Really? Of all the questions that we
have asked thus far, this may have the highest unfavorable
numbers and be the most offensive and insulting of all of the subjects
that we have covered. I know not another truth of the
scripture that is so offensive unto modern men and religionists
and humanists than this one and everlasting punishment. Even
in that doctrine of hell, there is a way that evangelical Armenians
are able to explain it so that it does not reflect in any way
upon God, at least explain it to their satisfaction. While
religious liberals and progressives flatly and outright deny hell,
as being no more than a myth, and some of them are content
to say that it is simply the grave. Others say that it is
no more than a miserable life in this present world, and others
argue that it is only a garbage dump outside of the city of Jerusalem
that was called Gehenna. Armenians handle it to their
satisfaction in this way. God doesn't want any to go to
hell and everlasting in Paris, and that He has made provision
for each and every soul to be saved, that Christ has died for
all, and that He loves all, and that there is salvation available
unto all, and that the Holy Spirit is working, attempting, and trying
to draw all people unto the Lord God and unto the Savior. So why then do some still perish? If all of those things are true,
why is it that some are still perishing? Because as they are
many, they have not used their free will aright and made themselves
available unto the provision of God. Billy Graham's famous
saying was, they must make a decision for Christ. They have not accepted
Jesus. They have not invited the Lord
God to come into their heart and there to live and to reign. And so, in this way, they shift
all the blame fully upon the unrepentant sinner and attribute
no blame at all unto God. So that God then in their mind
by this shift is therefore cleared of any injustice and of any unfairness
on his part toward men. But come to the issue of rejection
and reprobation, that God does not love everyone. Esau, have I hated? Romans chapter 9 and verse 13,
that Christ died for his sheep. According to John 10, 11 through
15, that some were passed by the decree of the election of
grace, and that some of them, like Esau, are reprobate from
the womb. Remember the Lord called Judas
a devil, and a devil from the beginning, John 6 and verse 70. Like Pharaoh, some are a vessel
of wrath, that God might show his power in them. Romans 9 and
verse 22. And as we read here in Jude verse
4, of certain men who were before of old ordained under this condemnation. Now Peter also describes or compares
false teachers. And he compares them, quote,
to natural brute beasts made to be taken and destroyed. 2 Peter chapter 2 and verse 12. Again in Jude verse 10, they
are again called brute beasts by the author of the scripture. And we read in Proverbs 16 and
verse 4, the Lord hath made all things for himself, yea, even
the wicked for the day of evil. Jeremiah chapter 12 and verse
three, the prophet prays concerning the wicked, pull them out like
sheep for the slaughter and prepare them for the day of slaughter. You see that again in James chapter
five and verse five. So some Christ will say in Matthew
chapter seven, Depart from me, I never knew you. I never at
any time knew you. So these are not some once saved
who had fallen out of grace, for the Lord said, I never knew
you. In 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse
8, some were appointed to stumble at the Word. Romans 9 and 22. Some are vessels of wrath fitted
unto destruction. So I repeat, This doctrine stirs
up the animosity of the carnal and of the natural and of the
fleshly heart more than all else that is contained in the sacred
scripture and of the religion. They rush against it like the
bulls of Bashan. Like yapping dogs, they come
against it. Like poisonous serpents, they
bear their fangs against it. they so hated that they have
actually pledged to disavow any association with any god that
would act in such a manner as these scriptures have declared. Now this, they say, amounts to
the conclusion that such a doctrine as this means that God has made some only to
destroy them or to damn them forever. Now, we'll deal with
this objection later on in our study. But let's try, if we might,
to lay a solid foundation for this doctrine that we might be
on good ground by weighing it in the balances of the Scripture,
by proving it from the truth of God's Word. and yet bearing
in mind what a Puritan once said, that this part of the purpose
and the decree of God which concerns the reprobate, quote, is the
hardest to be digested and believed, unquote. It is the hardest to
be digested and to take in. Because natural reason cannot
phantom the depth of this ocean. They cannot chew, nor swallow,
nor digest this strong meat and this hard saying of God's Word. And to begin with, they have
a strong prejudice and bias against this doctrine in the beginning. Now some older writers have called
this doctrine, don't misunderstand, quote, the horrible decree, unquote. not as speaking against it, not
as calling it into question, not as rejecting it, but in consideration
of the awesomeness of such a thing being included in the Scripture. as when scriptures speak of the
great, terrible God in Deuteronomy chapter 7, 21, 10, 17, Nehemiah
1, 5, and 9, 32. The great and terrible God. Can you imagine anyone calling
God terrible? And yet, in the sense of the
meaning of that word, the word means to fear or to revere or
put to fright, to make afraid. Some understand it as awesome. The awesome God. The terrible and the fearful
God. And this, like that, is an awesome
doctrine. for men to take in. Now, our
word AWE can refer to what the dictionary defines as, in two
ways, number one, it is a profound and reverent dread of the supernatural. We stand in awe of of something
even of God. And number two, it also has the
meaning of respectful, of fear by those that are in great authority. Now, just to think upon the matter
that God has chosen some to everlasting life is a happy thing indeed
for us to reflect upon. But then to realize that God
has passed by others, and others out of the same lump, Romans
9, 21, we're going there later, is an awesome thought. To leave
them unredeemed and unregenerate and unjustified, leave them under
the power of their sin, and then to punish them exactly as their
sins deserve in the sight of God. Let's get to the decree
or the purpose or the determination of God concerning the human family
in particular. What has God willed in regard
to the sons of men, as they're called in the scripture? Are
some of them ordained to eternal life? Acts 13 and 48 speaks of
them that are ordained to eternal life. Are others, on the other
hand, ordained to condemnation? Jude, verse 4, that we read. Now, to be honest, Scripture
speaks of both of them. The decree, the purpose of God
concerning the human family has two parts to that great and eternal
decree. Number one, election, which we
considered in our last study on did God really. Election,
that God chose some in the Lord Jesus Christ before the foundation
of the world, Ephesians 1, 3, 4, and 5. Number two, that decree
of God includes the passing by or the rejection or the reprobation
which we will declare in our study of today. There is election,
but not all are chosen. Not even in Israel were all chosen,
or were they all of Israel. For they were the elect that
obtained, and the rest were blinded, as we read in Romans 11 and verse
7. Notice that contrast, the elect
and the rest. And that includes in Israel. Paul speaks of, quote, a remnant
according to the election of grace in Romans 11 and verse
5. You'll see that in 1 Kings chapter
19, for that is the reference. And the Lord made a distinction
between those that were his sheep and those that are not his sheep. In John chapter 10, Isaiah said
of his day, Isaiah 1 and verse 9, except the Lord of hosts had
left us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom
and we should have been likened unto Gomorrah. That is, completely
cut off and destroyed, overthrown, and judged for their great sin
and rebellion against God. Let's visit a few passages of
scripture to confirm the doctrine of reprobation. And not just
to pass by and to wave at them, but to go in to the house and
have a look around. To have an extended visit, if
we might. Let's look at Proverbs 16 and
verse 4. The Lord has made all for himself,
and then he adds, Yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. Now, this is a very weighty verse
of the scripture and also perplexing to many and offensive to not
a few because of the last half of the verse, which concerns
the wicked. Do any of you remember the heyday
of campus crusade movement way back in the 60s and in the 70s? I certainly do. Their magic formula
was this. God loves you and has a wonderful
plan for your life. That was sort of their mantra.
or their motto. It was up to you to find that
wonderful plan and live that wonderful life. Now the verse
has two halves in Proverbs 16 and verse 4. The Lord hath made
all things for himself. By the way, it is not unusual
to find strong statements of sovereignty in the book of Proverbs. You might not think that. It's
a book of wise saying. But there are many strong statements
on the sovereignty of God in the book of Proverbs. Look at
it. The Lord made all for himself. Some versions have everything
for its own purpose. The Lord made all for himself
or the Lord made everything for its own purpose with his in the
margin. Now this includes all things
and especially does it refer to people as seen in the last
half of the verse. The first half of the verse is
a general statement. God made what he had made, A,
for himself, B, to serve his purpose and to answer its end,
and to his own glory. Have you read Revelation 4 and
verse 17? Thou hast created all things,
None argue with that. Thou hast created all things,
and for thy pleasure they are and were created. Now the last
half of Proverbs 16 and verse 4 gives an answer to a perplexing
matter. And that is the life and the
end of the wicked. For a perplexing matter indeed. Has God a plan for the wicked? Did the wicked fulfill any purpose
or any plan or any determination of God? The Proverbs collector
said, the Lord made them Two, even the wicked and their life
and their breath of God has he given unto them. Matthew Henry
observed this, and I wrote it down. Though he made them, he
will not save them, unquote. And yet they will serve a purpose. in God's history and in God's
government of the world and in bringing to pass his will and
his purpose. In Jeremiah 25 and verse 9, God
calls Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, quote, my servant. Nebuchadnezzar my servant. Not a worshipper of God and a
wicked man, but he calls him my servant. He does so again
in chapter 27 6, chapter 43 and 10 of the prophet Jeremiah. Now I'd like for you to turn
with me, if you'd like, over to the book of of the prophet
Isaiah. And it is chapter 10 that we're
interested in reading from this morning. And that would be verse
5 through verse 8 if you are turning to that particular place. Isaiah chapter 10 and verse 5
through 8. Here's another example of God
calling a wicked idolater a servant of His. Listen. Isaiah 10, 5
through 8, O Assyrian, watch this, the rod of mine anger and
the staff in their hand is my indignation. I will send him
against an hypocritical nation, that is Israel, and against the
people of my wrath will I give him a charge to take the spoil
and to take the prey and to tread them down like the mire in the
street? How be it? He meaneth not so,
neither does his heart think so, but it is in his heart to
destroy and to cut off nations, not a few, for he saith, are
not my princes altogether And one of the clearest proof that
God has made the wicked for the day of evil is Pharaoh in Romans
chapter 9 and in Exodus chapter 9. It says of Pharaoh, for this
same purpose have I raised thee up that I might show in thee
my power and that my name might be declared throughout all of
the earth. Both places say that to and of
Pharaoh, that he was a man raised up to show God's power and declare
his name throughout all of the earth. So we're bound to admit
that the wicked two serve God's purpose. There's Pharaoh, then
there's Judas, who wants to betray the Lord. There were the Romans,
who were to crucify him and fulfill the will of God unto salvation. Have you read in Isaiah chapter
45 and verse 7? I form life and create darkness. I make peace and create evil. I, the Lord, do all of this. There's that verse in Amos. It's
chapter 3 and verse 3. Shall there be evil in this city,
and the Lord hath not done it? Shall there be evil, and the
Lord hath not done it? Here's another passage that we
read this morning. The fourth verse of the little
epistle of Jude. That's the next to last chapter
or book in our New Testament. And we look again at two words,
certain men, and these certain men who were before of old ordained
to this condemnation. Now we should notice something
about Jude, and that is that the whole book Every bit of it,
every verse of it, just about, is taken up in giving us a description
of the act of the apostates. Not apostles, but apostate. And the judgment of God that
was visited and shall be visited upon them. For that end you'd
recall several examples from the past of apostates and of
God's judgment. There were the unbelieving Jews.
God destroyed them in the wilderness. There were the fallen angels.
God cast them down under condemnation. There were the sodomized. God
destroyed them utterly and completely. Then there were men like Cain.
and Balaam and Korah, who turned apostate and God judged them
severely. But we look at the words in verse
4, ordained to this condemnation. Now, doing a little word study
and a little research, I found that this word ordained is four
times in the New Testament. This Greek word is four times
in the New Testament. It's here. It is in Galatians
3 and 1. It is in Romans 15 and verse
4. And it is in Ephesians chapter
3 and verse 3. Now, the word used means this,
to write previously or to ordain. to evidently set forth. Here's the meaning of the word.
William Jenkins gives it the meaning. For written, enrolled,
billed, booked, or registered is the meaning of this word ordained. And some have it said it only
means that such men were written up by the Old Testament prophet
and does not refer to before the world or under God. And so they dismiss the doctrine
of reprobation by saying all this means is that this and these
were written up in the Old Testament scripture. But the metaphor of
a book is also used of God's decree. So not just the books
of the Old Testament when it says written in a book, but in
Psalm 40 and verse 8, Hebrews 10 and verse 7, it says that. In the volume of the book it
is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O God. And that's not the book of the
scripture, but the book of the decree of God. Thy book which
thou hast written, as Moses said in Exodus 32 and 32, refers to
the book of life written before the world. Some were not written
in the book of life. They were left out. Revelation
17 and verse 8. And that book was written before
the foundation of the world. Some were not loved by God. Romans
9 and verse 13. Some were not known by God. Matthew 7 and verse 23. Though He knows His sheep. John
10, 14 and 27. He knows them that are His. 2
Timothy 2 and 19. Some were not Christ's sheep. In John chapter 10. Now here's
the point. for us to consider. The decree
of election and reprobation are two parts of the same decree,
made at the same time. For when the elect were chosen,
the rest were passed over or the rest were rejected and they
were not chosen. Now, if there is a choosing of
some, then there is a rejection of others. And this distinction
is based upon nothing but the sovereign good pleasure of God,
his goodwill and his good pleasure and his desire. And there are
two examples of that in Romans chapter 9. I don't know if you
want to turn there. But in Romans chapter 9, there
are two examples of this very clearly stated. Number one, that
of Jacob and of Esau, twins, same father, same mother, conceived
same night in the same bed. Esau was even the firstborn,
and that usually carried a familial blessing, the right of being
the firstborn. And yet, before they were born,
their mother was told by God in a dream or a vision or whatever,
the elder shall serve the younger. The elder, who turned out to
be Esau, shall serve the younger who turned out to be Jacob. And
as we said in our last study, neither their good nor their
evil was a factor in the choice or the decision of God. It was
not Jacob's wickedness, actual or foreseen, by God that was
the reason why God passed by and rejected him. Even so, both
the elect and the reprobate were in the same condition when the
decree was made. They were viewed in the same
mass. Now, whether you are supralapsarian
as that, or sublapsarian, that God chose out of the fallen mass,
or infolapsarian, after the fall, one thing stays the same. Both the elect and the reprobate. are being viewed in the same
condition, which was also true of the angels. They were chosen
out of the pure mass. Then the non-elite angels apostatized
from their first estate, and they sinned. Now the second example
in Romans 9 is that metaphor, the figure of speech of the potter
and the clay. Now this is very familiar to
Old Testament readers. The Jews were very familiar of
that metaphor, that symbol, that image of the potter and the clay. You have it in the Old Testament
in Jeremiah chapter 18, 1 through 6. You have it in Isaiah chapter
29 and 16. You have it again in Isaiah 45
and verse 9. the potter and the clay, a familiar
symbol under the Jew. And Paul uses the potter and
his clay as a picture of God's right to have mercy and compassion
on whom he will, in Romans 9, 15 and verse 18, and to give
mercy to whom he will and to harden whom he will. And in verse
20 of Romans 9, Paul quotes from Isaiah 29 and verse 16 and Isaiah
45 and verse 9. As to the absurdity of the clay
questioning the right of the potter to form what he would
out of his lump of clay. How unreasonable is such a thing,
the clay charging the potter with a miscarriage of justice. Here's what he writes. Shall
the thing formed, that is, molded or framed, shall the thing formed,
molded, or framed, say to the framer, or to the former, or
to the molder, why did you make me this way? Shall that ever
be that the clay would jump up and say to the potter, why did
you do this? And then comes the question or
the assertion with only one possibility and correct answer. In verse
21, Romans 9, does the potter have the right to make from his
lump of clay what sort of vessel he would make? Can the clay resist
the will of the potter to make of it what he would? Can it refuse
to be molded into what the potter has designed in his mind? Can
it alter the purpose of the potter as he sets down at the wheel? Can it change itself from one
sort of vessel into another? Now, there are three things to
notice. in Romans chapter 9 and verse 21. Number one is the right
of the potter over the clay. The authority of the potter over
the clay. Has not the potter power over
the clay is the question. Now we consider this word power
that it comes from the Greek. over the clay, and as it is used
quite a few times in the New Testament in the King James.
This is not the word for power of might or of strength. That's not the same word dunamis,
a mighty power. No, the word is in Romans 9.21
exousia, same as John 112, that they that
believe have the right, the power, the authority to become the sons
of God. So the word means right, or authority,
or privilege, or jurisdiction. That's the meaning of this word
power, exudia. Now when the potter sits down
at the spinning wheel, reaches over and he gets him a lump of
that clay and he throws it there upon the wheel and waters it
a little bit and begins to spin it around and begins to put his
hand and begin to form the clay, water to make it pliable that
he might make, and he begins to form it, that potter has the
authority or the jurisdiction to form whatever kind of vessel
he would. Whether a beautiful flower vase
for the mantle of a mansion, or perhaps a spittoon for a saloon,
he has the power to make either one. Notice what Paul said. one
vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor, because he has
the authority, the exousia, over the lump of clay. Now the second
thing, whatever sort of vessel a potter makes, whether honor
or dishonor, both of them, and you must get this, are from the
same lump. Brother Wilson, I remember in
our preacher's meeting, we preached to each other, took turns. One
preacher got up and said, God from one lump of clay made the
elect, and from another lump of clay he made the reprobate.
Paul says from the same lump, not two. So the difference is
not in the clay. The clay is not two lump but
one. There's not a pure lump from
which he makes the vessels of honor and a defiled lump from
which he makes the vessel of dishonor. This is not a contaminated
lump to begin with, full of dirt and grass and gravel from which
to make the vessels of wrath. The same lump. And this word
lump is five times in the New Testament again, in the King
James Version, All of them by Paul. Remember his saying, a
little leaven leavens the whole lump? Again, this is established
in the case of Jacob and of Esau, similar language, in 2 Timothy
2 and 20, in a household of honor and dishonor. But now, from the
example of the potter, Paul makes an application with a long, long
question in verse 22 through 24. What if God, willing to put
his rat on display and to exercise his power toward the vessels
of rat fitted to destruction like Pharaoh, and this he does
in both Jew and Gentile, verse 24, This may be called reprobation,
or rejection, or the non-elect, that some are rejected from the
first, in order that God may demonstrate His wrath and make
His power known in them. It is generally agreed that reprobation,
like election, has two parts to consider. Number one, some
were chosen, some were not. They were rejected. They were
passed by. And number two, the elect were
ordained to eternal life. and to reprobate unto destruction
for their sin. For God does not love them, Christ
did not die for them, the Holy Spirit will not generate them,
God will not call them, they will not be given the faith of
God's elect, they will not be given ears to hear, at least
not spiritually in the spiritual or the saving sin. Now, some
greatly object? Would you also say, if you object
to that, if you say this is not fair, God only made some that
he might destroy them as a mean old bully, well, then I would
raise the question. Would you also, in regard to
election, say, well, election means that God only made some
in order to save them? that his chief end in choosing
them was just that he might bring them unto heaven. That was part
of it. But in both of them, the reprobate
and the elect. God makes a majestic display
of his attribute and of his power in election. The riches of his
glory, Romans 9 23, Ephesians 1 6 and 1 12 and chapter 2 and
verse 7, making a display of the riches of his grace. Oh, that God has done in saving
The Elect. Now, in rejecting, there is also
a great display. There's a display of his sovereign
power, that he might make his power known. Romans 9 and 22. That God leaves the reprobate
in their sin, and then he punishes them for their sin is not an
unrighteous act on the part of God. Why not call God unrighteous? for putting away the sin of the
elect, if you're going to argue along that line. This is an unrighteous
act, if you look at it strictly from the human standpoint, for
we were all worthy of condemnation. and of damnation, and of eternal
loss, just as worthy as were the reprobate. And yet God put
a difference between them. So why not fault God that he
has forgiven the sins of the guilty? He has been a judge that
has set them free and dismissed their sin and forgiven them and
sent them away. Well, the truth is, He will have
mercy to whom He will, He will harden whom He will, right here
in Romans chapter 9. And I would say to us, to you,
to me, to anyone, who are you? to reply against God. Who are you to call into question
the way of Almighty God? Paul has a rebuke for you.