All right, look at verse 19,
as the Apostle Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, continues
to deal with these issues of God's sovereignty and the salvation
of his chosen people by his grace through the Lord Jesus Christ,
and how this applies to everyone whom God, by power and by truth
through the Spirit, brings to a saving knowledge of Christ.
brings to faith in Christ and to true repentance. And he says
in verse 19, now he's talking about, he's been talking about
how God is the sovereign savior of his people. God said, I'll
have mercy on whom I will. I'll be gracious, I'll have compassion
on whom I will. It's not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but it's of God that showeth mercy.
God has that prerogative. God is the creator. God is the
savior. And it's his prerogative, it's
his sovereign prerogative. And he even uses Pharaoh, you
remember Pharaoh, who withstood God as Moses was sent to Egypt
to set the Hebrew children free, and Pharaoh resisted. And it
says here that verse 17, that scripture says, even for this
same purpose, Have I raised thee up that I might show my power
in thee and that my name might be declared through all the earth?
Why did God deal with Pharaoh in such a way? Why did he create
him like that? Why did he deal with him that
way? And God says, here's the answer. And this is the only
answer that he gives. He doesn't quibble with creatures
and debate over this issue in a philosophical way. He just
simply says that I might show my power and that I might declare
my name throughout all the earth. Therefore he has mercy on whom
he will have mercy and whom he will he hardeneth. Now that hardening
is not God doing wrong, it's not God doing anything evil.
It's not like God put an evil spirit into Pharaoh. He just let Pharaoh go his natural
way. That's what the old writers used
to put it that way, and I believe they're right. In other words,
he left him alone to go his own way, and if God leaves any of
us alone and we go our own way, it'll be the way of damnation.
That's right. That's why we pray, Lord, don't
leave us alone. We sing that song, Don't Pass
Me By. while on others thou art calling.
Please don't pass me by. Don't leave me to myself, because
if he leaves me to myself, I'll tell you what I'll be like. I'll
be just like Esau and I'll be just like Pharaoh. Now I don't
have the power or the money or the clout that Pharaoh had, but
I have an evil spirit, an evil nature. That's what I have, that's
what we're born with. And if God saves us, we can't
attribute it to our own will or to our own works. It's of
God that shows mercy. We're recipients of God's mercy.
And you might ask the question, well, why did God choose me?
Why did he save me and not somebody else? Well, I can tell you this,
it has nothing to do with anything in me or done by me, as God viewed
it in the future or whatever. I know this, 1 Corinthians chapter
1 kind of seals it up. He says that no flesh should
glory in my presence. And so this is the way God has
designed it, that he gets all the glory and we get none. So
verse 19, here comes the next objection, the next question
that Paul anticipates. as he's led by the Spirit. He
says, thou wilt say then unto me, why doth he yet find fault? How can God fault us? How can
he hold us responsible or accountable? For who has resisted his will? Who's resisted God's will? Now,
if I were to take that question out of its context and just ask
it in a general way, you know what I'd answer people? Who has
resisted God's will? I'd say, nobody and everybody. You say, well preacher, are you
talking out of both sides of your mouth? No. Are you talking
in contradictions? No. If you put it in this context,
which is speaking of the sovereign will and purpose of God, which
can never be broken, nobody resists his will. But there is also the
issue of God's revealed will by way of commandment, which
we all break. And I believe that summarized,
I often go to a verse in the Old Testament, but you could
go to many verses on this, which is Deuteronomy 29, 29. I've got
that listed in your lesson here. We gotta make a distinction between
God's sovereign will and purpose, which can never be broken. He
states it so many ways. Isaiah 46, I've got listed where
he says, I will do all my pleasure. God, Ephesians 111, God works
all things after the counsel of his own will. Nobody can resist
his sovereign will. All right? But Deuteronomy 29,
29 says this, it says, the secret things belong unto the Lord our
God. Now the only way we know God's
secret will, his sovereign will and purpose that cannot be broken,
is after the fact. I can tell you some things about
what God's will was for my life yesterday, or even a minute ago. But I can't tell you what God's
sovereign, unbreakable will and purpose is for me five minutes
from now. I could drop dead behind the
pulpit and the Lord call me on home. I don't know. It's like
people talking about the second coming of Christ. When is Christ
going to come back again? We don't know. We do know that
he is. Because that's God's revealed
will. God says he's sending his son back. But now the when, that's
only the father knows. That's his secret will. So he
says, the secret things belong unto the Lord, but those things
which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever,
that we may do all the words of this law." And of course he's
talking there to the children of Israel when he gave them the
law before they went into the promised land. This was God's
revealed will for that nation as they entered the promised
land. And so we make that distinction. So God holds us accountable,
not for the secret things that are hidden from us, but for the
things he's revealed to us. And as, like I said, now that
may be difficult for us to wrap our minds around, but that's
okay. That's okay, because he's God. And he's high above us. And it's not necessarily that
we wrap our little puny, finite minds around all this. We just
know it's true. And we look at passages, you
know, just like I always go back to Genesis 50. I mentioned this
last week when Joseph, when his brothers who had sold him into
slavery, they wanted him dead, but they sold him into slavery.
And later on, you know how the providence of God, God working
his own will after his own purpose. He brought them back around and
they faced Joseph and they were afraid Joseph was going to put
it to him, didn't they? And remember what Joseph said,
don't worry. He said, be at peace. I'm where
God put me. Now, should they have gotten
up and said, well, boys, that absolves us. We're innocent in
all this. Oh, no. Joseph said, you meant
it for evil. God meant it for good. The revealed
will of God for them was love their brother, love their neighbor
as themselves. Would you sell yourself into
slavery? Well, no. Would you murder yourself? No.
That's the way you look at your brother. But God's purpose was
worked out to save much people. That's what Joseph said. And
of course, how can we not see that in the glorious work of
our Savior? The human race, I always say
this, I'm not just talking about one segment of people in history.
The human race was responsible for putting Christ on that cross,
and we meant it for evil. You with wicked hands. But all
that went on, it was all God's determinate counsel and will,
working his purpose behind the scenes. That's what he said.
And so the kings of the earth stood up against God's holy child,
the Jews, the leaders. The Gentiles, the Jews, all humankind
turned thumbs down on King Jesus and they did no more than what
God determined beforehand to be done. Acts chapter four. Now
why did he do it? For his glory to save much people
is elect. And that's the way we're to look
at it biblically. So when we come to these things, Here's
what we're told in God's word that we cannot charge God with
sin or injustice in any of these things because God is holy and
just and good. He's not unfair. He's not unreasonable. He's not unrighteous. He's just
so much higher than us that we can't figure it all out. Only
God knows the end from the beginning. And then secondly, we cannot
relieve ourselves of our responsibility to seek the Lord and obey him
and worship him as he reveals himself. But that question is
raised. If the sin and wrath of man are
so under God's control that they too serve his ultimate purpose,
how can we be blamed? And so Paul anticipates that
question. Why does he find fault? Who has
resisted his will? Now look at verse 20. He says,
nay, but, O man, who art thou that replies against God? That word replied, it doesn't
mean just simply trying to answer a question. That word replies
there means to dispute with God. It means to debate with God. Who are you to debate with God?
I told you years ago when I was in seminary When I was in seminary,
we weren't taught the gospel, and I didn't know the gospel.
But I got hold of a poem by a fellow, I think he was from Connecticut. He had written this poem. And
one of the lines in the poem is this, your arms are too short
to box with God. And it's true. You want to dispute
with God? You remember when all that came
about in the book of Job? Here, Job was one of God's chosen
people, a believer, redeemed by the blood of Christ. And God
allowed Satan to touch Job in a negative way, in ways that
we can't even imagine. Losing his family, losing his
possessions, losing his health. And then the debate begins, and
a lot of it started with Job's three friends, you know, who
came. They sat down with Job, and they didn't say a word for
several days, remember, and then they started. Job, we've got
to figure out why this is happening to you. And basically, they went the
way that we all go by nature. Now because this has happened
to you and it's bad, you must have done something bad. You
must have said something bad against God or you must have
done something and we've got to figure this out so you can
make this thing right. Now that's natural thinking,
isn't it? That wasn't the case at all.
And Job, he even, a believer, as we all are apt to, he even
began to defend himself in a self-righteous way. And so you remember when
Elihu come along and he began, now wait a minute, you want to
debate with God? Okay, ask yourself this question
first. Where were you before the foundation
of the world and this world was created? Where were you? You
didn't exist, except in the mind of God. Where were you when God
put Leviathan in the sea? Where were you when God, see,
what he's saying here, you're not on a plane. that you can
argue and debate with God. And so here's what we need to
understand. When he says, he says in verse
20, now next week we're gonna get to the potter and the clay
because that's a very important concept in the scripture. When
he says, hath not the potter power over the clay? To make
one lump, one vessel under honor and one under dishonor. That's
God's prerogative. But I want you to think about
this first. All right, look at verse 20. Nay, but, O man, who
art thou that replies against God, that argues with God? Who
are you? Who do you think you are? You
ever, you know, raising children? When they first, when you first
have them, mom and dad can say nothing wrong. Then they start
to grow. And they become what we call
teen creatures. People said they ought to just
put them all out on an island, the girls on the east coast and
the boys on the west coast. And when they reach 21, let them
come back in. Because what do they start doing?
They start questioning you. They start arguing with you.
And have you ever said to them, you get frustrated, who do you
think you are? I can't remember who the guy
was who used to tell his son, he said, I brought you into this
world, I can take you out. But you know how it goes, you
know how we were. They begin to, and that's what,
that's the issue here. God is the sovereign creator,
we're his children, who do we think we are? He says in verse
20, shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, why hast
thou made me thus? Why'd you make me this way? Next
week, when I go into the potter and the clay, you know the illustration. Here's a potter, and here's one
big old lump of clay, no distinction. He reaches down, he grabs a handful,
and he puts it on the potter's wheel, and he makes a beautiful
flower vase. Just something that is honorable,
beautiful to look at, worth a lot. But then the next lump, he goes
in, he grabs a hunk of that clay, puts it on there, and he makes
a chamber pot. What are you gonna do? Do you
think, is there an argument? Both serve a purpose. One honorable,
one dishonorable. And both were made by the same
creator. So who are we to reply against God? So what I want to
do in this lesson, before we get to the potter and the clay, I want you to understand, first
of all, nobody resists God's sovereign will. His, thy will
be done. That's the, that's, you know,
when we talk about prayer, you know, somebody says, well, why
pray? Because, number one, God commanded us. That's revealed.
That's a revealed command. That's the revealed will of God.
You who know God, you who are his children, pray always. Be in an attitude of prayer.
But secondly, that's God's way. It's God's way of blessing his
people. And he tells us to ask our petitions, and we know that
we're not to ask anything that is contrary to his revealed will.
I mean, you're not to sit down and pray, Lord, please help me
to murder this guy and get away with it. That's a bad prayer, isn't it?
God's not gonna help you do that. That's against his revealed will.
Thou shalt not kill. And so we pray because it's God's
command. We pray because the Holy Spirit
urges us, gives us a desire to pray, to connect with our Heavenly
Father through Christ based upon His blood and righteousness.
We pray because it's God's means of blessing us, but sometimes
we don't know what to pray for, and so we say, Thy will be done.
But we understand that God operates according to his sovereign will.
We're not to debate with that, but we also know that God operates
upon the plane of his own eternality and sovereignty, which we're
not even close to. He's so high above us that we
can't think like that. He works all things after the
counsel of his own will, and the secret things belong to him.
God has revealed some things in His Word. And let me just
go over these. Number one, God has revealed
that He is holy and just and He must punish all sin where
sin is charged, where sin is imputed to sinful people. He
must do it. He has to act in strict justice
in all things that He does. And the wages of sin is death.
Eternal death. Sin is against God. And He's
revealed that. Sin is not just a mistake we've
made. Sin is rebellion against God. And He must punish that sin if
it's charged to us. If I stand before God and He
charges me with sin, I'll get what I deserve. And God will
be just in giving it. That's death, eternal damnation.
Secondly, God has revealed that we are all sinners. That we don't
have what it takes to be right with him. He requires perfect
righteousness and we don't have it. And he reveals that we can't
work it. We don't have it and we can't
work hard enough to gain it. It's impossible. There's none
righteous, no not one. There's none good. God's revealed
that. He hasn't kept that secret. For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. The wages of sin is death. And
then thirdly, God has revealed that he has freely and fully
provided all the righteousness that he requires for salvation,
for justification, for a right relationship with him. He has
freely and fully provided that by his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. who is God manifest in the flesh,
whom God has revealed to be the one and only surety of his people,
the one and only substitute and savior and redeemer of his people,
and there's no other. God has revealed that in the
gospel. In fact, if you want to say it, after the fall of
man, that was the first revelation that God put forth. The seed
of woman who would die for the sins of his people, and satisfy
justice, bring forth everlasting righteousness. God has revealed
that there's no other way, there's no other way of salvation, but
by his grace through the blood of Jesus Christ, through his
righteousness imputed. That's the way of talking about
being charged with sin. My sins were charged to Christ. And then fourthly, God has revealed
that if we're left to our own wills, if we're left to our own
choice, Because of our sinfulness and our self-righteousness, we
will not choose Christ. We will not receive Christ. We will not choose God's way.
We will not submit to His way. We'll go our own way. Now, somebody
asked me one time, said, well, why didn't God keep that secret? Why does He reveal that? Well,
we've already said it, that no flesh should glory in His presence. God, listen, God has revealed
that it is an abomination unto him for a sinner to take any
credit in his own salvation before God. God has revealed that. In other words, if I think that
I make the difference between saved and lost, whether it's
by my works or by my will, that's an abomination to God. He's revealed
that. Because the scriptural doctrine
of the sinfulness of man, which is revealed by God, shows us
that we fell in Adam and that we're born spiritually dead in
trespasses and sins. And that if left to ourselves,
we'll go our own way, which is a way that seems right unto men,
but it's a way of death. And why is that so important?
Because God has determined and worked it out and revealed that
he gets all the glory in our salvation. And we get none. He will not share his glory.
And then fifthly, God has revealed that before the foundation of
the world, he chose a people in Christ to save by his grace
based upon the righteousness of Christ who would come in time
and accomplish that for his people. God has revealed that they will
all be saved. But here's the thing, now here's
the secret things. God has not given us a list of
their names and addresses. God has not let us peer into
the Lamb's book of life. God has determined and revealed
that we can only know whom he chose before the foundation of
the world and whom Christ redeemed on the cross. by the preaching
of the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit whereby he brings
sinners to believe in Christ. He gives them life. Why is it
that way? It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. That's the way God's
designed this thing. And so he says, go preach to
everybody who'll listen. Go in all the world and preach
the gospel. And you tell them, whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. I can say that without embarrassment,
without excuse. My friend, if you call upon the
name of the Lord, you'll be saved. But you'll know this, that calling
upon his name is calling upon him as he's revealed and identified
in the word, not as we think him to be. That's the revealed
will of God, it's in the gospel. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and you shall be saved. Now the Bible teaches us that
when all whom God has chosen shall believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ, it teaches that sinners have no reason not to believe
God or even to hesitate by wondering whether or not they are elect. The Bible doesn't tell any lost
person. Now you've got to figure out
whether or not God chose you or Christ redeemed you. It doesn't
say that. It tells you that all whom God chose and all whom Christ
redeemed will believe, will call upon the name of the Lord. So
now, who are we to debate with God? Shall the thing form, say
to him that formed it, why did you make me thus? I'll guarantee
you that won't wash. in God's court. Everybody, listen, everybody
who perishes in their sins will know eventually that they're
getting what they deserve. And everybody who's saved by
the grace of God through the righteousness of Christ will
know that they're blessed by his grace and mercy and they
have nothing to boast in, nothing to brag about, nothing to crow
about. God forbid that I should glory
saving the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. I'll tell you this
in closing. Years ago, you remember the Phil Donahue show?
Used to come on TV. He often had a preacher come
on there. His name was Bob Harrington. You ever heard of him? They called
him the chaplain of Bourbon Street in New Orleans. And he was a
false preacher. But Bob Harrington had his 10
most wanted list. And he said, now these are 10
people whom if, and here's the way he would put it, he said,
if I can get them saved, we can convert the world. And incidentally,
Phil Donahue was one of them. You had to put Phil in there
or you won't get invited back, you know. But he had Muhammad
Ali, he had several celebrities. well-known, well-liked, highly
esteemed people. Well, read 1 Corinthians chapter
1 and 2. Is that the way God operates?
No. Not many noble, not many mighty. The weak things of this world.
Think about when the Lord came to earth and began his public
ministry. He didn't go to Caiaphas and
Annas, the religious leaders. He went down to the seashore
and called some fishermen. He called a tax collector, not
someone who's looked up to and esteemed by the people. Now why
is all this so? That no flesh should glory in
his presence. God doesn't use the natural thoughts
and high estimations of sinful human beings to influence us. He sovereignly, powerfully sends
his spirit to convict us of sin and righteousness and judgment
and bring us to Christ. And he gets all the glory. All
right.