All right, the one verse that
I've got cited is the question, verse 14 of Romans 9, which says,
what shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? And of course, the answer is
God forbid, absolutely not. Is there injustice with God? Is God unfair? Now, what caused
the apostle to anticipate this question, this objection? And
there's actually three questions, I think, that are brought down
through here in Romans 9. Three objections to sovereign
mercy that we'll see. And I'm gonna get into them in
detail next week, Lord willing. But we know this, and I wanna
emphasize this. That what caused Paul to anticipate
this objection? Well, the Holy Spirit caused
him to do it. Because this is the written word
of God. And the emphasis that I wanted
to make on this, this is not, you know, when I was in seminary,
they would talk about Pauline theology, and Johannine theology,
and Petrine theology, and what that meant was, Pauline, that's
what Paul believed. Johanna, and that's what John
believed. Petra, and that's what Peter believed. As if that was
three different denominations or so. And it's not true. This
is pure, unadulterated theology. This is God's Word, and Paul
and John and Peter believed the same thing. They were different
personalities, and their personality sometimes comes through in their
writing, even as they were inspired by the Spirit, but it's still
the same truth So understand this is not just Paul's word
or Paul's opinion. This is God's word. And understand
that. And I wanted you to, I've got
three points at the beginning and three points at the end here
that we need to see that tells us how to approach what we see
as difficult scriptures. Most who call themselves Christians
will either ignore these scriptures or they'll twist them Or they'll
just simply deny them. I had professors in seminary
who just flat denied them. They said, well, I just disagree
with Paul. That's Pauline theology. But this is the word of God.
But consider what Paul had already set forth here as he was inspired
by the Spirit. And look at this. Number one,
Paul had written that the gospel of Christ Now you know the word
gospel means good news. And somehow that doesn't say
it all because once you see it, once the Holy Spirit brings you
to see it, it's not just good news, it's great news. It's the
greatest news that any human being can be privileged to hear. Not only blessed to believe. The gospel. It's the gospel of
Christ, he said. It's a gospel that concerns a
person. And who is this person? He's
God manifest in the flesh. That's who he is. No one like
him. And why do we need one who is
God manifest in the flesh? Because in order for us to be
saved, and that's what he was talking about, the gospel is
the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. To
the Jew first, the Greek also, there's no national, racial,
economical, sexual boundaries here, you see. If you're male
or female, it doesn't matter. It's the same gospel to you as
it is to Paul, as it is to me. Whether you're a Jew or a Gentile,
black, white, it doesn't matter. We're all sinners. We are all
fallen sinners, born spiritually dead in trespasses and sins,
and we have no power to save ourselves from sin. We're totally
helpless. We can't even lift a finger towards
contributing to our own salvation. That's what the Bible teaches.
So the gospel is the good news of this person. who is God manifest
in the flesh, and the reason that we need a person who is
God and man in one person, every bit God, every bit man without
sin, is because the only way that we can be saved and set
right with God is the righteousness of God, by the righteousness
of God. For therein is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, the
just shall live by faith. The righteousness of man will
not do because man has no righteousness. Righteousness is what? It's perfect
satisfaction to God's law and justice. That's what it is, perfection. And that's what it takes to set
a center right with God. We don't have it, we can't work
it. Not by our best efforts, the best human being that has
ever lived or will ever live on earth falls short. We've all
sinned and come short of the glory of God. And so the good
news is that there is a person who worked out the righteousness
of God as the surety, the substitute, and the redeemer of his people
by his obedience unto death on the cross. He satisfied righteousness. He satisfied the justice of God. Now that's the good news. And
Paul makes it clear that everyone who believes this gospel shall
be saved. Everyone. Later on in Romans
chapter 10 and verse 13, for whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. There's not one person in the
history of humanity, and there's never going to be any person
from this time forward till the Lord comes back, who truly calls
upon the name of the Lord and is going to be rejected by God.
No one's ever been rejected. You understand what I'm saying?
But what is it to call upon the name of the Lord? What is his
name? Well, his name is what identifies
and distinguishes him from all idols. His name involves who
he is and what he has done. His name involves his character,
his attributes, so that whatever God says about himself in this
book from Genesis to Revelation, that's his name. So that when
you call upon the name of the Lord, whose name are you calling
on? Is it a God of your imagination?
Or is it the God of this book, revealed in the person and work
of Christ? That's the issue. I've told you
the illustration that A man told me years ago when he was talking
to a religionist who called himself Christian but did not believe
in a sovereign God. I mean, he was openly believing
in a God who is kind of like a cosmic chess player. God makes
his move, we make our counter moves, and then God figures out
what to do and how to get around us, you know. That's just the
way most people think of God. He moves, you move, and it's
all coming together in some way that God hasn't really figured
out. Or they might say, well, God
knows how it's gonna work out, but he didn't determine how it's
gonna work out. And that's silly. That's not the God of the Bible.
But the man told this man, he said, the way I've got it figured
is salvation's like a big chocolate cake, and anybody who wants a
piece can have it. And the man told him, he said,
well, I'll go along with you, but you gotta add a few things
if you're gonna be scriptural. And that's this, and this goes
to the second point on your lesson. If salvation's like a big chocolate
cake, if you're gonna be scriptural, if you're gonna use that as a
scriptural illustration, salvation's like a big chocolate cake, but
every fallen human being on earth hates chocolate cake. And the only way you're gonna
love chocolate cake is if God intervenes sovereignly and changes
your taste. That's the key, and that's the
second point. Paul had said salvation is a glorious thing. It's a great
thing. We can't even imagine how great.
We have a little taste of it here, don't we? But it's something,
you know, that I, a sinner, can stand before God and be forgiven
of all my sins. And not because of anything I
am or have done or will do or promise to do. It's a gift of
God's grace. And that I can stand before God
and say, I'm righteous. What is that? Is that pride?
Self right? No, it's because it's all in
Christ. It's his righteousness charged
to me. That's what he said. Now, the
second thing is that Paul has already made it clear In what
he's written up to this point is what I just said in the illustration,
by nature. And when I say by nature, I mean
as we are all naturally born, physically born. We're born fallen
in Adam, spiritually dead in trespasses and sins. And by nature,
we hate the way that God has provided for salvation. We want
salvation, but we want it our way. Our own way. And there are many ways that
people come up with, but it's always a way that conditions
salvation upon sinners and gives a sinner room to boast. In claiming
that I somehow make the difference between saved and lost. And you
can, what does make the difference between saved and lost? Well,
you go to the different denominations, and it'll be different things.
But it's not totally by grace, even though they'll say by grace.
With most people, it's grace plus works. That's why Paul deals
with this over in Romans 11. If it's by grace, it's not of
works. If it's of works, it's not of grace. You know, I hear
people saying, well, that preacher mixes works and grace. Can't
be done. You know what he does? That preacher
preaches works. There's no mixture. The Bible
says grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ
our Lord. That's grace. Whatever works
come after that are the fruit and effect. I'm going to talk
about that in the main message today. There are works, but they're
not works that attain or maintain salvation. That's the fruit that
comes from the vine, which is Christ. So anyway, we're born
spiritually dead, and if left to ourselves, here's what Paul's
taught up to this point, and go back to Romans three, let's
just read this one. If left to ourselves to make
the choice, even hearing a fabulous message like the gospel, The
good, the great news. If left to ourselves, we will
not choose Christ. We hate chocolate cake. Look
at Romans 3 in verse 10. As it is written, there's none
righteous, no not one. And understand there, I always
make this point when he says that. He didn't say here there's
none religious, no not one. There's a lot of religion. but
it points to someone other than Christ for some part or degree
of righteousness. Verse 11, there's none that understandeth. What does that mean? The message
of salvation is not originated by man. Man doesn't understand,
naturally speaking, man doesn't understand how God can be just
and justify the ungodly. That has, 1 Corinthians chapter
one and two, that's what Paul's saying there. It hasn't even
entered the minds of even the best of us, the philosophers,
the religionists, the scholars, the princes of this world. It's
not even entered their mind. And once you see how God does
justify the ungodly, you see that it's all based upon things
that are freely given, totally unconditioned upon us. And what
does he say? The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God, neither can he know them, they're
spiritually discerned. What is it he won't receive? First Corinthians
2.12, the things that are freely given. I've got to earn it some
way. I use the illustration, you know,
I had a man up in Ashland who worked on my guitar. And when
I gave him the guitar to work on, I had an old ratty guitar
case. And when he gave the guitar back
to me, it had a brand new hard shell case. Now, if you know
anything about guitars, those things are not cheap. I mean,
a brand new hard shell case. And his name was Ted, and I said,
Ted, let me pay you for that case. He said, no, it's a gift.
I said, Ted, let me pay you something. He looked at me, he said, do
you know what a gift is? I looked at him, I said, I understand
exactly what you're saying. Thank you. Do you know what a gift is? You
don't have to contribute to the receiving of a true gift. See,
it's totally free. Well, by nature, here's what
he says. There's none that understandeth.
That's why in 1 John 5, what is it, 20, it says the Son of
God hath come and given us an understanding that we may know
him. See, that understanding's a gift. If you understand how
God can be just and justify, if you understand how a sinner
can be righteous before God, based upon Christ's righteousness
and purity, that's a gift. And he says, there's none that
seeketh after God. Now notice here, he didn't say
there's none that seeketh after a God. None that seeketh after the true
God. He says in verse 12, they are
all gone out of the way. What is the way? There's only
one way. Christ said, I am the way. They are together become
unprofitable, there's none good, no not one. None that doeth good,
no not one. So Paul had set forth, now here's
the gospel. This is a gospel that sinners
need. There's no way of salvation but
this way. And it's by grace and it's for
sinners who cannot save themselves, who cannot contribute, who cannot
even lift their little finger to be saved. But by nature, nobody
wants it. John said the same thing. Here's
Johannine theology. John said in John 3, he said,
lights come into the world and men love darkness rather than
light because their deeds were evil. They hate the light. I
know myself, that's the way I felt before God brought me to the
saving knowledge of Christ. So that's by nature. And then
here's the third point. Paul then makes it clear, praise his name. that God before
the foundation of the world purposed to save a remnant of people whom
he chose sovereignly without any outside influence. He chose
them before the foundation of the world in Christ to save them
from their sins. And he uses Jacob and Esau. Here is an example. He says in
verse 13 as it is written, Romans 9 verse 13, Jacob have I loved,
but Esau have I hated. And basically that's just a statement
that simply says this. Jacob was blessed of God when
he didn't deserve it and didn't earn it. And God determined in
his sovereign will to leave Esau to himself. Now the question,
verse 14, what shall we say then? How are we going to respond to
that? Now let's all get in a circle
and let's hear your opinions on that. Is that what we're gonna
do? Well I tell you, there's only gonna be one of three opinions.
One of them's really not an opinion, because it comes from the word
of God. Some are going to say, well, that's just Paul, you know,
and God's not like that, and he's trying to save everybody,
and he sent Christ to die for everybody, and if you'll just
do your part to seal that deal, you'll be okay. In other words, they deny what
the word of God says. There are others who say that
Well, God is sovereign. Man is not responsible. He's
like a robot, so it doesn't matter what we do. That's an opinion,
but it's wrong. It's wrong. We are held accountable. We are responsible. The Bible
says we are. Then others will say, well, whatever
God says here, that's what we're going to say. And that's the
only right way, isn't it? There's no other way. God says that he chose a people,
and he uses Jacob and Esau. Now, some people say, well, that's
not talking about Jacob and Esau individually. That's talking
about nations. Now, hold on. First of all, let me remind you,
a nation is made up of what? People. I mean, the nation isn't
just trees and buildings. It's people. Secondly, the context
shows you that he's dealing with issues of the salvation of people,
sinners. So don't fall for that, well
he's just talking about nations and sending Christ through Jacob
instead of Esau. That's included, but why did
he send Christ? Jesus Christ, Paul said, this
is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ
Jesus came into the world to what? Save sinners, of whom I
am chief. His name shall be called Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. So he's talking
about the salvation of sinners here. But here's what I, how do we
approach this, all right? And I've got this at the bottom
of page one. Imagine you're sitting down with the Apostle Paul, and
he's told you all of these truths, and so you have some questions.
And you begin to ask your questions, but you know that whatever Paul
says is by divine authority. In other words, you're talking
to Paul, and Paul's speaking to you, but you know that Paul's
word is the word of God. That's how you approach him. And so this is the final word
on all these matters. Whenever the answer's given,
whether you're satisfied with it or not, or whether it all
makes sense to you or not, whether you can wrap your mind around
it or not, whether you can figure it out on a human level or not,
this is the answer that God gives. And it's kind of like this, it's
kind of like a mama and daddy talking to a little child. Why,
dad? Why, mom? Because I said so. This is the way. Well, I don't
understand all that. Well, maybe one day you will.
But that's the way it is. So this is the word of God. And so here's the first answer
to the first question. This is an objection now to Sovereign. What shall we say then? Now how are we going to react?
Paul gives an expanded answer to all of this over in Romans
nine and verse 30. Look across the page there. What
shall we say then? And then he sort of gives us
an expanded answer of how we as sinners are to approach these
mind-boggling truths, things that we can't figure out on a
human level. But we just simply have to take
God's word for it because he's wiser than all of us put together. And as far as him being unjust
and unfair, God is always just, God is always fair. Abraham saw
that when he was there trying to intercede for Sodom. And he
said this, he said, shall not the judge of all the earth do
right? Well, you bet he will. You bet he will. And so Now how
are we to respond? Is there injustice? Is there
unrighteousness with God? God forbid. May it never be. God is always just. I may not
understand everything God does and how he does it or even why
he does it other than we do have scriptural revelation on that.
He does it for his glory and he does it for the good of his
people. All things work together. Paul had already said that. All
things, you mean not just some things? Not just the good things? What about the bad things? All
things work together for good to them that love God, who are
the called according to His purpose. How can all these things be working
together for good? Because it's God who's doing
the working. It's not you or me. We'd mess
it up. We've already messed it up. But
God's doing it. You can bet there's no injustice
here, there's no unfairness there. And realize this, that if God
gave any of us what we deserved, or what we've earned, it would
be eternal damnation. Lord, if thou, Lord, shouldest
mark iniquities, who'll stand? None of us. God would be just
to send every human being to eternal death and damnation.
He'd be just, he'd be well within his rights to do that. But God,
who is rich in mercy, but it's sovereign mercy. What is sovereign
mercy? Look at verse 15, I'm gonna go
into this next week more. He says, for he saith to Moses,
I'll have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I'll have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. That's it. God says, I'll do
what I want to do. It's my right. I'm the creator,
you're the creation. That's right. And you know what,
this is quoted from Exodus where Moses asked him the question,
show me your glory. This is God's glory right here.
His sovereign right to do what he wills with those whom he created. Later on he describes it with
the potter and the clay. And why does he do it that way?
Verse 16, so then it's not of him that willeth, nor of him
that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. It's not man's
free will. It's not man's works. It's only
of God. Well, let me give you these last
three things quickly. Somebody says, well, if that's
true, then we don't have to do anything. Let's just all go home.
Let's shut the doors. We don't have to preach. We don't
have to witness. We don't have to pray. It's all
set in stone, and we can't change it. Well, is that what we say? What shall we then say? Well,
here's three things. Number one, God commands his
people to preach and witness the gospel to the lost. And you wanna know why? Because
that's how God calls his elect people into the fold. And I wanna
show you a couple of verses here. Turn to 1 Timothy. First Timothy. Now nobody in their right mind
could question the Apostle Paul's fervency and zeal and efforts
to go everywhere there was an open door to preach the gospel.
Now understand now, the same man whom God used to write Romans
9. who says it's God's will, it's
his sovereign will. All right, did it kill his evangelistic
spirit? No, didn't kill it at all. And so he, I'm hoping I gave
you the right reference there. Let me make sure that I get you the right one. Anyway, if I didn't, we'll find
it. I got it written down here. But
Paul believed in a sovereign God who sovereignly chose a people
before the foundation of the world gave them to Christ. And
did Paul say that they're going to be saved? But did Paul say,
well, they're going to be saved no matter what, doesn't matter
what I do? No, he didn't do that. He was fervent in evangelism.
He suffered for the gospel. And I think it's over in 2 Timothy.
Did I say 1 Timothy? 2nd Timothy, look here, 2nd Timothy
chapter one. I'll get it right here. All right,
look at verse eight. He says in 2nd Timothy one, be
not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor
of me his prisoner, but be thou partaker of the afflictions of
the gospel according to the power of God, who hath saved us and
called us with an holy calling, Not according to our works, but
according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began. You know what that means? That means it's a done deal in
the mind of God. But look at verse 10. But is
now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ. Christ had to come and accomplish
the righteousness of God for his people. who hath abolished
death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through
the gospel, whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and
a teacher of the Gentiles." Why didn't Paul say, well, if God
has an elect people, I don't have to go out there and preach.
I don't have to do it. No. He said, all this is made manifest.
He told Timothy one time, look over at turn to page 2 Timothy
2, and look at verse 9. Paul was preaching the gospel
and he was suffering. He was in jail, he was in chains.
And he says in verse nine, wherein I suffer trouble as an evildoer,
even under bonds, but the word of God is not bound. Therefore,
now look at verse 10. Therefore, I endure all things
for the elect's sake, that they may also obtain the salvation
which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. You know what
Paul's saying there? He said, the only reason I'm
going through all this junk that I'm going through is because
God has an elect people. Because he knew if God hadn't
had an elect people, there'd be no use to evangelize. There'd
be no use preaching, because nobody's gonna hear it, nobody's
gonna believe it. So the apostle Paul, secondly,
he viewed God's sovereign electing grace not as a deterrent to evangelism,
but as an incentive. That's the only reason I go out
and preach, and that's the only reason I suffer these trials
and the persecutions that come from the world. And then turn
to one more verse, turn to 1 Thessalonians. Thirdly, so first we preach,
God has a chosen people, elected, they're gonna be saved. And God
has commanded us to go preach for the elect's sake. And we
preach to everybody. Anybody who'll listen, isn't
that right? And God's gonna save his people. God's gonna save
his people. You say, well, what's the use
of preaching to the non-elect? First of all, I don't know who
the non-elect are or the elect. Until God brings them to faith
in Christ. And if I try to determine that
before they hear and believe the gospel, I'm trying to play
God. The secret things belong to God.
The revealed things belong to us. Christ said, go ye in all
the world and preach the gospel to every creature. And anybody
who wants it, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord
shall be saved. And then Paul, he saw that as an incentive. But thirdly, believing the gospel
is the first evidence of being God's elect. Believing the gospel
is the first evidence of having been redeemed by the blood of
Christ. Did Christ die for me? Well, how do I know? Well, look
at 1 Thessalonians chapter one. Told you all to turn there, and
I didn't turn there. Okay, verse four. 1 Thessalonians chapter
one. Knowing, brethren, beloved, your
election of God, knowing that God chose you, for our gospel
came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the
Holy Ghost, and in much assurance, as you know what manner of men
we were among you for your sake. How do you know their election
of God, Paul? God, the Holy Spirit, brought
them to believe the gospel. Over in 2 Thessalonians 2, I've
got that cited there when he talks about, we're bound to always
give thanks for you, brethren, beloved of God, because God hath
from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth, whereunto he called you
by our gospel. Anybody who claims to be one
of God's chosen people, apart from believing the gospel, is
just spouting self-righteousness. That's like the unbelieving Jews. But my friend, once God brings
a sinner to bow to Christ, to see our sins and our depravity
and our need of Christ, our need of the grace of God in Christ,
That's how we know that God chose us from the foundation of the
world. That's how we know we're justified before God based upon
his righteousness imputed to us. It's how we know we're redeemed
by the blood of Christ. How we know we've been born again,
by the Spirit. God-given faith in Christ, all
right.