We do worship a sovereign God,
and as our title says this morning, a God of sovereign mercy. Thank
God for that, that he has mercy on the people. I want to say
a few things this morning in an introduction type thing
to go over. I know most of you probably have
been here to listen to most of the messages here that I've had
in Romans 9. But I want to kind of go over
a little, a few things leading up to verse 14 this morning,
which is the verse we'll begin with as we deal with verses 14
through 18. God's sovereign mercy. We began
chapter nine a few weeks back where Paul spoke of his sincere
heartfelt sorrow for his kinsmen according to the flesh. He then
went forward explaining who these kinsmen were that were kinsmen
according to the flesh, explaining that these were Jews. These were
the nation Israel. These were Israelites, his kinsmen,
according to the flesh. He said that they had been given
so many privileges by God, the nation Israel, and he named a
few of those privileges. He said the nation as a whole
was temporarily adopted by God in order to reveal his glory
in pictures and in types, which were given to represent Christ,
the Messiah, that would come in time to redeem a people. They were given temporal covenants
and were allowed to serve God in picture and in type. In verse
five, Paul said that God even used their physical fathers as
he sent Christ into the world, the Messiah. Look at Romans 9.5. Paul says, whose are the fathers,
of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came. Then Paul begins
the discussion about the Jewish people and the nation Israel,
which concerned salvation, and why all of the Jews and the nation
Israel were not saved. Why were they not all saved?
God says that all Israel shall be saved. And so he said in Romans
9, 6, Not as though the word of God
had taken none effect, for they are not all Israel, which are
of Israel. Paul then went on in verses seven
through 13 to explain why all the Jews in a nation Israel were
not saved. He did this by using the examples
of Isaac and Ishmael. These were the sons of Abraham. Isaac, the promised child, son
of Abraham and Sarah. And Ishmael, he was the child
of Abraham, but also he was the child of the handmaid. And he
also used Jacob and Esau. Now these two boys, of course,
they were physical descendants of Abraham. They were the children
of Isaac and Rebekah. But God chose to save only Isaac
and Jacob. And the reason was given in verse
11 of Romans 9, 11, where it says that the purpose of God
according to election might stand not of works, but of him that
calleth. Now, as we begin verse 14 of
our study this morning, the objection that Paul sets forth in verse
14 is due to an objection that an adversary might have. This
would be an adversary that would have questioned Paul with the
question of, Paul, how can you account for the fact that there
were so many Jews that did not have the same faith as their
father Abraham? How is it that so many of the
natural children of Abraham are perishing in their unbelief and
in their sins? Now, since that is the question
by some of the adversaries, the objection by some of them is,
well, Well then, is it because the word of God had taken none
effect or come to nothing? Because God says all Israel shall
be saved. Or is it according to the purpose
of God and election that there are both Jew and Gentile, elect
and reprobate among both classes of people that God saves? In
verse six, Paul denies the thought that God's word had failed or
taken on effect. And as I said earlier, Paul tells
us why all Israels are not saved. He does this in the latter part
of verse six when he says, for they are not all Israel, which
are of Israel. Now I'm going to go ahead and
read verses 14 through 18 here as you follow along with me.
Paul says, what shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness
with God? Now that's the objection of an
adversary. Paul says, God forbid. For he
saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and
I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then,
it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but
of God that showeth mercy. For the scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, he's using Pharaoh as an example as God spoke to Moses,
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 throughout
the earth. Therefore hath he mercy or hath
God mercy on whom he will have mercy and whom he will he harden. Now let's begin with verse 14. The apostle here in verse 14,
as you read along, the apostle begins this verse with the phrase
that he uses throughout his writings when he's about to introduce
an objection that someone might have to what he's saying. He
now answers objections to the sovereignty of God and salvation.
If God sovereignly chose to set his love upon Jacob and did not
whom did not deserve it. Jacob didn't deserve it, or he
didn't earn it, but he left Esau to himself to perish in his sins.
Is God unjust, or is he unfair to do this? It may seem so to
our finite minds and limited understanding, but this kind
of accusation, which is, is there unrighteousness with God, is
mainly due to our sinful, self-righteous nature. Paul answers this accusation
with the emphatic, no, God forbid, or may it never be so. May it
never be thought that God could be unrighteous in any of his
doings. As I just said, the accusation by some would be, as I stated
in this verse, is there unrighteousness with God? Paul will begin answering
this accusation in the following verses as we go forward. with
our study this morning. The apostle makes it clear that
our God is not unrighteous in his nature, nor in any of his
ways or his works, nor is he unrighteous in choosing some
and rejecting others. He uses, a little later on as
we get into our next lesson that we're going to get into, Paul
uses the potter and the clay. And I won't go into that yet
concerning the potter and him having power over the clay to
do with each vessel as it will, making one to honor and one to
dishonor. There is no unrighteousness with God in the act of predestination,
which is commonly called election. The act of God electing a people
of his own choice is neither an act of justice nor an act
of injustice. The act of God electing a people
is an act of grace and of mercy and of undue and undeserved grace
and mercy. It's an act of mere sovereign
grace and mercy. God was not obligated to choose
a certain people for salvation. This was not something that he
was bound to do by law. Therefore, to choose some and
not others is entirely an act of his own sovereign grace and
mercy, and not something that a depraved sinner should even
question as being unjust or unrighteous. The Bible teaches us that even
though we may not understand all the workings of God, who
is eternal, he's immutable, infinite, wise, holy, just, and right in
all his ways. And though God's workings may
seem unfair and unjust to us in our own natural, in our own
natural depraved minds, God is always wise, right, and just. God never damns any sinner who
does not deserve damnation based on his sins. God never saves
any sinner, but those whom he's chosen to save in his sovereign
grace and mercy, which is in the Lord Jesus Christ, based
on his righteousness alone. Always remember, if God had not
chosen some, then none would be saved. We may ask the question,
why didn't God just save everybody then? We have to accept the fact
that we're only humans, We cannot see the end from the beginning.
Verse 20, verse later on in this chapter says, as far as questioning
God in these matters, verse 20 says, nay, but oh man, who art
thou that replies against God? We're only sinful humans and
we think too highly of ourselves, the reason these questions and
objections come up. The bottom line is that there
is no unrighteousness with God. God is right in everything that
he does. Our next verse, verse 15 here,
when Paul says, for he saith to Moses, he's quoting from Exodus
33, 19, where God says, I will have mercy on whom I will have
mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
The apostle goes on to answer the above objections by producing
some testimonies out of the writings of Moses in favor of predestination,
showing that the doctrine he had advanced was no other than
what God himself had delivered to Moses when he showed Moses
his glory. God's glory is not only in the
fact that he shows mercy and compassion on sinners, but also
that God is sovereign in showing mercy and compassion on whom
he will. God reveals his mercy and compassion
in saving sinners in the Lord Jesus Christ and based entirely
on his blood and imputed righteousness alone. He commands sinners to
seek him, the true God, not a false God, a just God and a savior. We all by nature are a sinful
and a rebellious people. By nature, we refuse to admit
our sin, our depravity, and our deservedness of damnation. We
also, by nature, refuse to admit that even our best efforts to
keep the law only deserves eternal damnation, because it falls short. And that's because it falls short
of that perfect standard, perfect standard of righteousness that
God gives us, that God requires. the righteousness that Christ
worked out and his perfect satisfaction to both God's law and justice,
his death, his shed blood on the cross. God requires perfection,
folks, in all things. Not just that you go about your
life doing the best you can, and he'll take a look at it,
and he'll weigh it on that scale. As I was raised up thinking of
a God like that, that somehow or another you go through this
life, and you say, well, I'm going to do the best I can. And
somehow or another, thinking of a God up there that's going
to have these scales, and he's going to kind of weigh it out. You do the best you can and he'll
somehow or another make the best decision and hopefully you'll
be saved. That's what you think by nature. And when I say by nature, that
means as we're all born into this world. We're all born here
sinners, depraved sinners. We're all born into this world
not knowing the true God. We fell in our father Adam as
he fell in that garden, disobeyed God. And we all inherit that
sin nature, that nature that we're born with. We're in, we
call it sin. It is selfish. It's a selfish
nature. It's a prideful nature. And, uh, but that's what we mean
when we say by nature, Christ is that perfect standard of righteousness
that I'm talking about where God justifies an ungodly center. We all, by nature, stubbornly
insist on salvation our own way, by our works and by our will. If God left us to ourselves,
we would, of our own will, perish in unbelief. But God has sovereignly
chose to save a people from this sinful human race. He has determined
to show mercy and compassion on an elect people. He has revealed
that all sinners all sinners who come to him seeking this
mercy and compassion in Christ, in Christ shall be saved. The
fact that God has an elect people, it does not deny the fact that
God has never and will never turn away any sinner who seeks
salvation by his free, sovereign mercy and grace in Christ. Those that God will have mercy
and compassion on will in time will in time come to Christ by
God-given faith. The Bible also teaches that only
God's elect, only God's elect, those for whom God has had mercy
and compassion, they will come to him. Look at John 6, 37. Christ is speaking here. He says,
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that
cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. Now folks, that says
Christ is speaking of the Father that giveth Him a people called
His elect, His sheep, in eternity, in that everlasting covenant
of grace. Now this is what Scripture says. All that the Father giveth
me. You've got to know something
about this. You've got to see this. to understand what we're
talking about. He says, they shall come to me.
They in time, they shall come to Christ. Our brother Bill talked
about that this morning. How do you come to Christ? Also,
Christ says in John 6, 44, no man can come to me, except, that's
a big word, except the Father, which has sent me, draw him. and I'll raise him up in the
last day. So we got this scripture that says, all that the father
gives me shall come to me. Then he says, no man can come
to me except the father which has sent me draw me. All those
that the father give to the son shall come in time. The father
will draw him. He'll draw him to himself by
the preaching of the gospel, a gospel that identifies this
true God and true Christ. They'll hear this gospel, they'll
hear about this true God and true Christ, how he saves a sinner
based on Christ's righteousness alone, that there is mercy. There is mercy. And he'll flee
to Christ for mercy and salvation. I thank God for his sovereign
grace and mercy in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. In our verse
16, the next verse we'll look at, God's choice and the salvation
of His people are in no way conditioned on the sinner, nor is it based
on anything done by them or in them. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is based on Christ,
not of works, lest any man should boast. Nothing outside of God
Himself had any influence on him in these matters. There was
nothing in the center as he was born into this world, nor was
there anything that was done by the center that had anything
to do with God having mercy and compassion on the center. So
then, it is not of him that willeth, scripture says. God's choice
and salvation of his people was and is not based on their willingness
to be saved God's way. The reason for this is that all
by nature, once again, are unwilling to be saved God's way. Now, this
does not mean that those whom God saves do not choose eternal
life in Christ, because they do. God's elect, they're made
willing, though. They're made willing in a day
of God's power. In the day of God's power, God
the Holy Spirit comes in power and performs that great miracle
called a new birth. It also does not mean that they
are compelled to be saved against their will. It means that men
by nature have no desire for salvation by God's grace in Christ
and will not choose eternal life while they are in this state
of nature. God has to do a work to bring them and reveal himself
to them. God, however, sends his Holy
Spirit to make his people willing by the powerful convictions of
truth that shows us our sins and drives us to Christ for salvation.
Eternal life is not given because man had a any kind of original
willingness to be saved as they're born into this world. Sinners
who come to Christ come because God makes them willing to flee
to Christ. God the Holy Spirit causes him
to seek for mercy. He does this by revealing the
true character of God as a just God and a savior. God causes
his elect to side with God and against himself in this matter
of salvation. We believe God's word, we believe
God's truth, what he says of himself as a holy God, a just
God, and what he said of ourselves, that we're sinners, we're ungodly
sinners, and we need mercy. We need mercy. We need for God
to have mercy and compassion on us. Look at John 1 verse 11. For the children, this is speaking
here of Jacob in Esau, for the children being not yet born,
neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of
God, according to election, might stand not of works, but of him
that calleth, of God that calls, that's sinner. And how does God
call his elect? He does it by the preaching of
the gospel. The gospel that clearly, clearly sets forth this true
God and this true Christ. When I was in false religion,
I believed in a God and a Christ, but they were not the true God
and the true Christ. They were a false God. They were
a God that I had conjured up in my own imagination and made
him likened to myself, scripture says. Let's look at John 6, 44
and 45. Once again, it says, no man can
come to me, this is Christ speaking, except the Father which has sent
me draw him. And I'll raise him up at the
last day. It is written in the prophets, and they shall be all
taught of God. Every man, therefore, that hath
heard, heard the gospel, heard of this true God, this true Christ,
and have learned of the Father, learned of the Father, learned
how he saved the sinner, cometh to me." That's who comes to God,
those that God has revealed himself to, has made him willing in the
day of his power to come to him. Where are we going to go? When
God reveals himself to us and reveals and shows us who we are
as a wretched sinner, having no hope. And he shows us who
we are by nature. And where are we going to go? I can't go anywhere else. My
only hope is Christ's righteousness alone. That's it. We have perfection, that perfection
is in Christ. First part of verse 16, so then,
it is not of him that willeth. The word willeth here denotes
a wish and a desire. Salvation is not by man's free
will, for fallen men have no free will. They're in bondage,
their will is in bondage, bondage to sin. Men do have, do have
a will and they do make choices in this life. But their will
and the choices that they make, they're vitally connected to
that sin nature that we're born with. Look at Jeremiah 13, 23. says, can the Ethiopian change
his skin or the leopard his spots? Then may ye also do good that
are accustomed to doing evil. Just as the example of the Ethiopian
and the leopard, there's no way they can change their state of
nature, no way. because they're born that way.
All men by nature here on this earth are born sinners. We can't
change the way we're born. As I said, our will is vitally
connected to the sinful nature that we inherited from our father,
Adam. By nature, we're dead in trespasses and sins, and this
includes our will. Men cannot come to Christ because
they will not They will not choose the true Christ of the Bible.
Men cannot come to Christ because they will not. Christ says in
John 5.40, Christ says, and ye will not come to me that ye might
have life. In salvation, Christ conquers
us. And this includes our will, making us willing to come to
him. Romans 9.16, the last part of 9.16 also says, nor of him that runneth. Runneth
described man seeking to work his way to God's favor. It denotes
strenuous, intense effort, as when a man is anxious to obtain
an object or hastens from danger. The meaning is not that the sinner
does not make an effort to be saved, nor that all who become
Christians do not, in fact, strive. to enter into the kingdom or
earnestly desire salvation. Luke 13, 24 says, strive to enter
in at the straight gate. For many, I say unto you, will
seek to enter in and shall not be able. There is no effort more
intense and persevering, no struggle more demanding and agonizing
than when a sinner seeks eternal life. Nor does it mean this scripture
that we're dealing with runneth that they who strive in a proper
way to enter in, and with a proper effort, shall or will not obtain
eternal life. It doesn't mean that. Look at
Matthew 7, 7. Ask, and it shall be given to you. Seek, and you
shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened
unto you. But the sense of this scripture
in Romans 9.16, the last part, nor of him that runneth, is that
the sinner is pardoned not on account of his efforts, but because
God chooses to pardon him in Christ. There is no merit in
his anxiety, in his prayers, and are in any of his works for
which God would forgive him he must still depend on the mercy
of God to either save or destroy him at God's own will. This is
the conclusion of the matter. Salvation is not from the will
of man, nor is it from man's efforts to strive for it, but
salvation is entirely of God's mercy, that mercy of which he
gives to whom he pleases. So then, what foundation in the
Word of God that can possibly be found for those systems of
self-righteous religion that attempts to make salvation dependent
on man's works and of man's own will and way? Therefore, salvation
must be according to the last part of verse 16 that says that
salvation is entirely of God who shows mercy. Now, the last
part of 16b again, but of God that shows mercy. Mercy or salvation
is the sovereign will and purpose of God alone. God is the first
cause of salvation and Christ's righteousness is the only ground
and basis of salvation. If God saves any of us, it is
because of his sovereign mercy and not by our will. not by our
works in any way. Now, next verse 17, the scripture
saith to Pharaoh, even for the same purpose that have I raised
thee up that I might show my power in thee and that my name
might be declared throughout all the earth. Here the Apostle
Paul uses Pharaoh from the Old Testament as an example of God
using someone to reveal his purpose and his power in. The Lord raised
up Pharaoh to show that no one, not even the most powerful king
and nation on this earth at that time, speaking of Pharaoh, the
king of Egypt, could prevent him from accomplishing his purpose.
God says that my name might be declared. This is God's glory. No charge of unrighteousness
can be proven against God because His grace and mercy are perfectly
consistent with His holiness and His truth. We know that all
sin is with men. We also see that even the wrath
and rebellion of men will ultimately praise the Lord. In hardening
Pharaoh, God did no injustice, nor did he act contrary to his
perfect character. It is not as if God persuaded
or forced an unwilling, kind-hearted Pharaoh to be hard toward God
and the nation Israel. In heartening the heart of Pharaoh,
God simply allowed Pharaoh's heart to pursue its natural sinful
desire. However, the birth, the situation,
power, and conduct of Pharaoh were all by divine appointment
to accomplish the will of God concerning that nation. Let's
look at a couple of scriptures concerning God's determinate
counsel. In Acts 2.23, says him, or Christ, being delivered
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have
taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. This is the determinate, what
God determined from eternity to happen. But he used sinful
men, and they did this out of the evil of their own heart.
They slayed Christ, put Christ to death. Also Acts 4, 27 through
28, says, far of a truth against
the Holy Child, Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and
Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, this
is everyone, folks, everyone, were gathered together for to
do whatsoever thy hand, God's hand, and thy counsel determined
before to be done. Even the wrath of man will praise
the Lord, And it's for God's purpose and glory that all men
and things do exist. Look at Psalm 76 verse 10. Surely the wrath of man shall
praise thee. The remainder of wrath shall
thou restrain. Wicked men are sometimes restrained
by God. They are hardened with a restraint
when the restraints are removed, as with Pharaoh. and they are
left free to act according to their own depraved wills. We
just don't realize what this world would be today if God's
restraining hand was not there upon the people of this earth.
Look at 2 Thessalonians 2, beginning at verse 10. and with all deceitfulness
of unrighteousness, and them that perish, because they receive
not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for
this cause God shall send them strong illusion, that they should
believe a lie, that they all might be damned, who believe
not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. This is judicial
hardening wherein God acts according to his strict justice. Our last
verse here in our study here this morning, verse 18, Paul repeats that God will have
mercy, will have mercy on whom he will have mercy. You might
ask, well, why does God have mercy on some, but on others
he leaves them to their own sinful desires? Once again, in Matthew
11, 25 and 26, which reads, at that time Jesus answered and
said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and has
revealed them unto babes, even so, Christ said. Even so, Father,
for so it seemed good in thy sight." Mercy is a divine attribute
of God. Mercy is sovereign, has to do
with the sovereignty of God. God must deal in justice with
all men, but his justice toward his elect people is satisfied
by the obedience unto death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace
and mercy cannot be exercised at the expense of that justice.
God cannot show mercy and compassion to anyone that in some way still
stands before him with that law and justice not satisfied. But
all those that stand before God, wherein Christ represents them,
in his life, in his blood shed on the cross, that paid that
justice toward God. He paid that debt in full. The
proof of this is that, is the cross of Christ, wherein he bore
the sins of his people. I thank God this morning for
his sovereign mercy in saving sinners, for Christ's sake alone.
Amen.