All right, Romans 9 and verse
20. Remembering that Paul is rebuking
those who question, who answer, who dispute and deny the sovereign
right of God. Verse 20. Nay, but O man, who
art thou that replyest against God? Who are you? Why, what authority
do you do that? Why do you do that? Who do you
think you are, O man? Who art thou that repliest against
God? Shall the thing formed say to
him that formed it, why have you made me thus, or this way,
or like this? Hath not the potter power over
the clay of the same lump to make one vessel under honor and
another under dishonor? What, now watch this, what if
God willing to show his wrath and to make his power known,
endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to
destruction, and that he might make known the riches of his
glory on the vessels of mercy which he hath aforeprepared unto
glory, even us whom he hath called not of the Jews only, but also
of the Gentiles." Now, let me say this before we enter in.
that in verse 22 and 23, both of these require that the person
be a sinner in the sight of God. Make his power known, endured
with much longsuffering, the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction. but also in verse 23, that he
might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy
which he hath before prepared unto glory. Both of them require
that such be a center for God to work with them in that manner. But that being said, it might
be good up front for us to clarify the question that we are raising
for our study today, and then expand upon it in order that
there might not be any great misunderstanding, for some there
are who would answer before they ever hear the matter laid out
or discussed. So the question is this, for
our consideration today, did God ordain the fall? Was that part of the purpose
and the will of God, that man fall and therefore God deal with
them as fallen beings, men and women? Or did the fall of Adam
catch God off guard? He had just made man and a garden,
put him there to dress it and to keep it and to visit with
him. So did it catch God by surprise
when Adam sinned and fell? Or we put it another way. Did
Adam sin and fall, throw the purpose of God off course, so
that he had to then conceive another way and another matter? Was it something that God had
never intended to occur at all, and then God had to conceive
a remedy for what had happened? And yet, we read in the scripture,
we see by experience and from history that man did sin and
did fall and became a sinner and the whole race of mankind
is sinful and depraved. And by nature, they are generally
haters of God. They're dead, in trespasses,
and in sin. They walk after the flesh and
have no desire after God. They live after the fashion of
the world, and they walk according to the prince of the power of
the air, as Paul said in Ephesians chapter 2. So that none are righteous,
Not one is good, not one is righteous, and not one seeks after God. And some are saved, but they
are saved by the grace of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. However, they that are saved
are fewer in number or comparison to they that are not. For many
go the wrong way, the wide way, but few are chosen and few are
called, 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 26. So that brings
us then full face to the question, was the fall of the race in Adam
a part of the eternal purpose God which he purposed in Christ
Jesus. Ephesians 3 and verse 11 speaks
of the purpose of God which he purposed in Christ Jesus. So is there a connection? Did this eternal purpose which
was purposed in Christ Jesus the Lord include the fall of
Adam and of the race? Was it a part of God's eternal
decree? When God formed that eternal
purpose, which he formed in the Lord Jesus Christ and declared
in Psalm 2 and verse 7, I will declare the decree. In Ephesians
1, Paul writes repeatedly using such terms and such phrases as,
in verse 5, according to the good pleasure of his will. And then in verse 9, having made
known unto us the mystery of his will according to the good
pleasure which he had purposed in himself. And in Ephesians
1 and 11, being ordained or marked out or predestinated according
to the purpose of him who works all things after the counsel
of his own will. And see the words that are used
here. Let's look at them individually
again, such as the word pleasure, desire, satisfaction, delight,
wish. That is the meaning of the word
pleasure. And so you have the word will,
which means a determination, a volition of God, or a decree
according to the will of Him. And then you have one of the
most blessed words in all the New Testament with regard to
this, and that is the word purpose. And the word purpose means a
setting forth an intention. Literally, to set something forth
is the meaning of the word purpose. And in connection with that word,
we know that this word is some dozen times or so to be found
in the New Testament. Four of those times, it is translated
by the word showbread in the English and in the King James. The showbread, that is, the bread
of setting forth. The bread was set forth there
to show forth its purpose. And this word is a favorite or
was a favorite with the Apostle Paul. He uses the word purpose
some six times in his epistle. Here they are quickly. We won't
read them. In Romans chapter 8 and verse
28. Chapter 9, verse 11. And then
in that great Ephesian epistle, chapter 1, 11, 3.11, and he uses
it in writing to Timothy, 2 Timothy chapter 1 and 9 and 3 and 10. And Paul uses that word those
six times in his writing in the New Testament. Then there's the
word mystery in Ephesians chapter 1, and Paul uses that six times
in the Ephesian epistle. It is the word musterion, and
it means a secret. It means something that is hidden,
something that cannot be known unless it is revealed or brought
out into the open or is uncovered. It cannot be known. It is a mystery
or a secret. Now all of this in Ephesians
chapter 1 has to do with a spiritual blessing which are through Christ. Paul said, listen now, They were
before the foundation of the world, with which He had blessed
us before the foundation of the world. And what are some of those
spiritual blessings? Well, they're mentioned there
in Ephesians 1. They are election, chosen in
Him. for the nation ordained to the
adoption of children. And these statements taken collectively
declare that these things are done according to the eternal
counsel and will and purpose of God. They're not an afterthought. They're not something that he
instilled in history or in the period of time. They're not a
stopgap measure. And they're not an emergency
plan or action, but a designed and eternal decree and purpose
which God set forth before the world ever began, before the
foundation of the world. Now, consider another thing concerning
Christ as the one sacrificed and Redeemer for sinners, that
He's the Lamb of God slain, and listen. from the foundation of
the world. We read that in Revelation 13
and eight, the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. In other words, the lamb slain
in the decree and the purpose of God before the foundation
of the world. In first Peter chapter one and
verse 20, speaking of Christ, as the Lamb who has redeemed
us with His own precious blood. Peter also writes this, who was
foreordained before the foundation of the world. And you read in
Acts chapter 2 and 23, him being delivered by the determinant
counsel and foreknowledge of God. Now that proves that God's
foreknowledge is not him simply looking ahead and knowing or
seeing what men would do and then acting accordingly. For
knowledge means to know or to love and to plan and such like. So these last two thoughts, I
believe, show beyond question that God made preparation for
the redemption from sin. before he created the world,
before he created Adam, before Adam sinned in the Garden of
Eden. Before any of that, God had made
plans to save sinners. Now this means that he knew that
men would sin and that they would fall. This means that he would
provide a savior who would save sinners from their sin and that
before they ever were created that they might sin. Now, I know
that almost any Arminian would readily admit this truth. But
the question is, did God will that man fall? Was it according
to his plan? Was it part of his purpose? Was
it part of his decree? Did God ordain the fall? Was it a part of the purpose
of God? Was it his will for sin to enter
the world? And if so, whatever. could be
the good or the end that might come out of it. And most Arminians
would deny that God ordained sin or that he willed the fall. They would admit that God permitted
the the fall of man, this is as far as they will go. But then
we would remind them that what God permits, he certainly must
will to permit. If he permits something, he certainly
must will to permit this or that or the other. So then, who can
will that God permitted or will to permit that which did come
to pass? And then there is that old time-worn
standard argument that if God ordained the fall, that would
make him, quote, the author of sin, unquote. Now here's the
Arminian will argue that. This would make God the author
of sin, if he willed the fall, and if he ordained the fall. I must say, it once satisfied
me, and I held to that position, what it was abhorrent at one
time, to think that God would ordain that men and women fall
into such a dire condition. that if God ordained sin, then
that would be a stain upon His holy character and holy being. So they dismiss the ground, or
they dismiss it, rather, upon the ground that it is impossible
that God will or that God ordain the fall. Jerome Zacchaeus wrote
something that I thought was interesting, and he wrote it
in the 15th century, a long time ago. He said this, three words,
quote, Arminianism is atheism, unquote. Way back, he wrote that. Now, there are several passages
in scripture, and I need to bring these forward. that show that
God ordained and used acts of sin to accomplish his will and
to bring to pass his particular purpose. And the sin of some
was instrumental in the bringing to pass of the will and the providence
of God. I want to give you two main ones
from the scripture, one from the Old Testament and the other
from the New. Number one, let's think about
Joseph. Let's think about the sins of
Joseph's brethren who took him out and sold him away into slavery. What did they do? What they did
was an act of envy, the scriptures say. They had murder in their
heart. They lied to and deceived their
father about Joseph, Genesis chapter 37. And yet all of these
things concurred together to raise Joseph to be the prime
minister in the land of Egypt, to become the second in command,
including the lust of Potiphar's wife toward Joseph in Genesis
chapter 39. And yet Joseph when his brothers
came down, and he was reconciled unto them, he would assign these
things, all these acts, to the secret providence of God. Genesis 45 and verse 7. And you ought to read that if
you have any doubt. He said, God did sin me before
you. Don't blame yourself. It was
God that sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the
earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. And then in verse 8, it was not
you, he said, that sent me, but God. He said it again in Genesis
chapter 50 and verse 20, he said, you thought evil against me,
but God meant it for good. Now his brothers were driven
by evil intent and evil desire, but God was working it out to
their good and actually to save their life. Now the second example
that I would mention is even closer to home. And even more
illustrative of that, and that is the ordination of Christ to
die upon the cross. He was slain, you know, before
the foundation of the world. Now those who crucified the Lord
were guilty in doing so because of their motive and because of
their intent. And they used the wicked hands
of the Romans or the Gentiles to put our Lord to death. And
yet, as was typical in the case of Joseph, the will and the providence
of God carried the matter of the crucifixion of our blessed
Lord Jesus Christ. Acts 2.23 again, Him being delivered
by the determinant counsel and for knowledge of God. Again, put down Acts 4 and verse
28. What they did to Christ, quote,
whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. As with Joseph, they meant evil
against our Lord. Evil, but God meant it for the
salvation of many, and it became the occasion of the salvation
of many, the death of our Lord. Those who insist that Christ
must be put to death did not do so. That is, the Jew and the
leaders and such like, they insisted that Christ must die, but they
did not do so. from a desire to fulfill the
scripture or that souls might be saved. But it fulfilled the
will of God anyhow, the evil done by their hand, that it was
set forth as a propitiation in order to affect redemption and
salvation. So keep those two examples in
mind. They were both done with evil
intent on the part of the actor, but it was a part of the secret
providence of God as a way to bring to pass his will. Now before
we move on, let's reflect upon these things which we have considered
so that we can conclude two things out of them before we move along. Number one, both events were
ordained and accomplished by the will and the providence of
God. God's hand was guiding the matter. God's will was falling into place. Joseph said, it is not you that
sent me, but God in Genesis 45 as we read. The Lord Jesus Christ
said this, He must go to Jerusalem and there be delivered into the
hands of the Gentile and be crucified. Matthew 20, 18, and 19. God willed, yes, God ordained,
and that before the world that Christ be crucified as an offering
for sin. And then in both cases, secondly,
the commission of sin to bring them to pass. It was a commission
of sin that brought both of them to pass. But the sin is chargeable
to the evil men who carried them out. It was not a sin for God
to use their sin to accomplish His will and purpose, or that
He punish them for their sin though it accomplished the will
and the purpose of God. For in both cases, the men themselves
had no regard and no intention of fulfilling the will of God
or of bringing to pass the Scripture. Now I can imagine someone concluding
this does not prove that God ordained the fall because these
were already fallen and God simply permitted their sin to help fulfill
and accomplish his will. Now as we might conceive, they
freely acted, they deliberately, they willingly did those evil
things. They were not forced into it
at all. but willingly and gladly carried
them out, giving free reign to their desire and their sinful
feeling. And since they were not restrained
by God, they went ahead with their evil intention. A good
example is Judas. who betrayed the Lord Jesus Christ. And yet, that deed is written
up in the Old Testament. I've chosen you twelve, and one
of you is a devil. But now, we come to the question,
did God ordain the fall? Did He will and intend that Adam
fall? And if the answer to that question
is yes, as I believe it is, and soon we will be able to establish,
then another question comes up in our mind. Why? Why did God do that? Why did
God ordain that man fall? Recently, we studied God hardening
Pharaoh's heart. Why did God harden Pharaoh's
heart and bring such judgment upon him when he could have simply
put it into the heart of Pharaoh to let them go without any dissimilation
at all? And not why. Calling God into
account for he gives no account of his matter whatsoever Job
33 13 nail man who art thou that replies against God his ways
are past finding out Romans 11 and 33 and there is the rebuke
of Paul in Romans 9 and 20 that we read again and Oh man, why
dost thou reply against God? But the why, why would God do
that has to do with what is the aim, what is the purpose, what
is the end, what is the goal of the decree and purpose that
Adam fall and with him the entire race. When we look at the decree
of God from three aspects, And for now, confine ourselves to
that part of the decree that concerns election and reprobation. Now, the three aspects of it
are, number one, the decree made before the foundation of the
world. Number two, the ultimate end
or aim of that decree, what is intended to be accomplished by
such a thing as that. And number three, the decree
of the means whereby the decree is accomplished, how it is worked
out, how it is brought to pass, how it is accomplished and realized. Now, if you would, pardon the
digression while we apply these things to our two earlier examples,
Joseph and the Lord Jesus Christ. A, in the case of Joseph, number
one, God ordained that Joseph become the prime minister Egypt
number two the aim and end of that decree was to save much
people alive Genesis 15 20 and number three the way that it
was accomplished was by the wicked hands of his brothers and of
the Ishmaelites and a potter for and of other related events,
but then be the same thing with Christ and God ordained that
he die on the cross, slain from the foundation of the world. Number two, the aim and the end
of the decree was the bringing in of many sons unto glory. That's part of it. Number three,
his death in large part was accomplished through the sin and the blindness
of Jewish leaders and the people using the wicked hand of the
Gentile or of the Roman. Now just as Joseph's brothers
use the hand of the Ishmaelite tradesman to take him away into
slavery in the land of Egypt. Now to deal with our subject,
it requires that we descend this morning into the deep and into
the attributes of God which are involved in this matter of the
decree of the fall of man. attributes like the eternality
of God. Can you imagine? Preparing a
sermon God willing for next Sunday on did God really? Create out
of nothing and in six days and we look at the eternality of
God that God had no beginning Nobody made he did not evolve
He did not pop into existence never was there a time when there
wasn't God so the eternality of God is comes to play. The sovereignty of God, the will
of God, the foreknowledge and the wisdom of God, His immutability,
His omniscience, His omnipotence, and that most dreaded and perverted
word of all, in the New Testament, his coordination or predestination. And the subject also opens the
door for us to pay a visit to brush very close to the lapsarian
question in theology, whether superlapsarian or infolapsarian,
more later on that, if our time permits today. So the question. If God willed the fall, then
the same question as in the case of Joseph. God had an end in
mind. He had a reason for it. So what is it? Or is it revealed
in the scripture? What could that be? What could
be the end of the aim or the purpose of God? Seeing that multitudes
have perished in their sin and fallen into Condemnation. Men have invented every evil. Sin has ravaged the entire world. There is pestilence. There is
disease that has slain their thousands. People kill each other. They're violent and they are
murderers. Homes are destroyed. Families
are broken up by sin. Perverts prey on little children. every time we turn around. False
prophets abound preaching lies and heresy. So why then would
God ordain or will such a thing? What returns has God gotten for
his having ordained the false? Did things spiral out of control
when God allowed the family of man to fall into sin? So that
then brings the question, what did God intend to do by ordaining
such a thing? What end did he have in mind? It is not without reason, surely,
that God would do such a thing and would ordain such a thing.
For example, did he do it in order that he might save every
lost sinner? He might have prevented the fall
had that pleased him. It had been a miserable failure
if God has ordained our will to save all. Now this point,
if the decree of God parted the coming human family into elect
and into reprobate, called sheep and called goats, those that
are Christ's sheep and those that are not, as we read in the
scripture. Romans 11 and 5, the rest and
the elect are contrasted there. He appointed the elect to obtain
eternal life by Jesus Christ the Lord, Ephesians 1, 3 through
5, Romans 8 28 and 30, 1 Peter 1 and verse 2. Now the great
controversy is concerning whether in electing them God first considered
them as fallen or unfallen, and we can't get off too much into
that this morning. But infralapsarians seem to think
that election was out of the race as fallen and superlapsarian
that he chose them before they fall. But Arminians will only
admit that the fall was foreseen by God and therefore foreknown
by him, not that the fall was decreed or ordained. Now, it
seems to me, if one holds to such doctrine as eternal, vital
union of the elect with Christ and of eternal justification,
that they would favor the superlapsarian view of theology. By the way,
there's a website called Superlapsarian. It has a lot of good information
on it if you are interested. Romans 9 20 and 21 where we began
our reading and the end of verse 21 of the same lump to make one
vessel under honor and Another under dishonor and look what
we read here that there are vessels of wrath Fitted to destruction
there are vessels of mercy afore prepared under glory now Let's
read verse 22 and 23 again What if God, or God willing,
I think some versions have it, God willing to show wrath and
to make his power known, endures with much long-suffering the
vessels of wrath fitted to destruction? and that he might make known
the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy which he hath
aforeprepared unto glory. These two verses refer to what
was said to Moses and to Pharaoh respectively earlier in Romans
chapter 9. You have Pharaoh in verse 17
and the conclusion of the matter is in verse 16 and verse 18. It is always the response of
Arminian that such a view of reprobation amounts again to
us saying, well look, If reprobation is so, then that means that God
made some a purpose only that he might destroy them. But verse
17, look at it. Show my power in thee, and that
my name might be declared throughout all of the earth. You see that
in Exodus 9, 16, Exodus 15 and 1 through 21. where you see the
people of God praising God for the destruction of Pharaoh and
his army. Would they make the same application
to election? Would they say, well, election
means that God made some only to save them and to bring them
happily unto heaven. Here's a quote from Jerome Jerome
Zacchaeus, born in 15 and 16, and wrote a book, quote, The
Principal End of the Deity is His Formation of All Things and
of Mankind in Particular, listen, was the Manifestation and the
Display of His Own Glorious Attributes. What he is saying is that why
God did this was to make a display of his glorious attribute, not
just one sort of mercy, love, grace, and so forth, but of the
other, hate, and wrath, and indignation, and judgment, and such like.
So then he went on to say, Zankes did, his ultimate scope in the
creation of the elect is evidenced by their salvation, the unsearchable
riches of his power, his wisdom, his mercy, and his love, and
the creation of the non-elect is for the display of his justice,
power, sovereignty, holiness, truth, and such like, unquote. Now, let's visit Paul's very
spiritual Ephesians epistle, if you would. If you want to
turn there with me in chapter 1, here are some glorious things. Chapter 1 and verse 6. to the
praise of the glory of his grace wherein he hath made us accepted
in the beloved. Verse 7, in whom we have redemption
through his blood, the forgiveness of sin according to the riches
of his blessed grace. Chapter 1, verse 11 and 12, in
whom also we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated
according to the purpose of him who works all things after the
counsel of his own will, listen that we should be to the praise
of his glory who first trusted in Christ. Then one more in Ephesians
2 and verse 6 and verse 7. and hath raised us up together,
made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that
in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of
his grace in his kindness toward us through Jesus Christ. So the end of election is the
manifestation of God's glory, and the recovery of the elect
out of the fall is a means to manifest God's glory, the riches
of His grace, and the fullness of His love. And reprobation,
on the other hand, is the means of God displaying an entirely
another bank of his attributes, his wrath, his hatred, his judgment,
and such like. In reprobation, he shows forth
that wrath, that justice, that holiness, and he makes his power
known. And for that, he shall receive
eternal glory and praise and honor. and in election he shows
the riches of his grace and mercy and will receive glory for all
of that. So that God displays every attribute,
I guess every attribute imaginable, everyone's spoken of in the scripture
by the fall, and then by some being saved and some not being
saved, God is able therefore to display all, full rounded
of his attributes. All of them are made known. and
are put on display and are manifested because some are saved and some
are not. So that even redounds to the
glory of God and the use of his attributes. Well, that's a hard
thing. I hope the Lord will open our
heart and receive it by faith that this is taught indeed in
the scripture. Sure, it is offensive to the
flesh, It is insulting to the pride of man, and yet here it
is in the scripture.