Just kind of something before
we really kind of get into this. What y'all are holding in your
hands with these Bibles, these aren't just books that men have
written. These aren't just words that
somebody just kind of came up with and put in for somebody
to follow along with when they come to church. This book, there's
66 books in this Bible. And they are written by several
different men. I don't remember exactly how many. I think there
were like 30 or 40 different men or something like that. Maybe
not that many. While they were written by man,
the very words that are in this Bible comes from God. These are God's words. They're
not man's words. You'll hear a lot of people say
that these are just a book written by man. that they were written
by men. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, they
wrote these things. They're just men. But the Bible
tells us that the Word of God was written whenever these men,
by the Holy Spirit, penned these things. So they didn't write
them out of their own words, out of their own thoughts, out
of their own wisdom, out of their own intellect. These men wrote
these words down as God told them to write it down. So what
you're holding in your hand is actually God's own words. That's very important. The Bible
is a very important thing. It's a very important book. It's not just another book to
throw on the shelf like all the other books that we got. It is
a special book because this here is the only place where truth
is found. About God. About salvation. about all that we are as His
people, about all that God is doing, has done, and will do
in this time continuum. This Bible is the revelation
of God, His purpose, God and His salvation, God and His people. And so don't take it lightly,
folks, especially for the kids, young kids and old kids, don't
take for granted what you have here. This is a precious thing
that God has given to us. And so, whenever we come to the
Word of God, we look to that and of course we all, all of
us older folks that have been on the road for a while, often
say that this is our only, this Bible is our only rule of faith
and practice. What that means is everything
that we do as far as what we believe, our doctrine that we
teach and preach and convey, everything that we hold to and
how we conduct ourselves, how we conduct worship. Why do we worship the way that
we worship here whenever we gather together? That's what we mean
by this Bible is our only rule of faith and practice. The doctrine
that we preach and only from here is where we get to practice
on how to preach it and how to display it, how to convey it,
how to share that message. This is our only rule of faith.
So we look to God's Word to tell us what to think about everything.
We learn here, if we want to know something about the family,
what do we do? We turn to God's Word. What does
the Word of God say about the family? Now, the world out there
and the modern churches out there, they have their ideas of what
the family is. Today, a family can be a man
and a man, a woman and a woman, a man and two women, or two men
and a woman. I mean, it could be anything
that you want to make it to be. They say you can just do whatever
you want. You can have two men that go and adopt a child. They call that their child. Even
now, they've got men trying to have babies. They're trying to
make it where men can have babies. But God's Word defines what a
family is. A family is a husband and a wife
and the children. The children are subjected to
the parents. The wife is in submission and
subjection to the husband. Not because one is better than
the other. Not that they're not equal in
who they are in Christ Jesus. but because the Lord has placed
them in those roles, the importance of the husband and the wife and
the child to function within their roles as God ordained it
to be is the best way that it could ever be. No one's going
to outsmart God. God's way is the best way, always,
no matter what it is. The way God has brought the church
together, He has organized His church the way He deems the church
to be organized and how He has put forth the way that things
are to be done within the church. He is given to the church, apostles,
pastors, teachers, for the preaching and the ministry of equipping
the believers for that work of the ministry of the Word of God.
So God has given the church a certain foundation as well. And out there,
it's something different. You can have women pastors, you
can have queer pastors, you can have all kinds of just entertainment
and a bunch of junk going on there, but God has dictated to
us how worship, how the church should function. And if we say
this is our only rule of faith and practice, then we should
look to God's word and follow what God says because we're not
going to be able to do it any better. And if we're doing it
something other than what God is saying, then it's not God's
church. It's not God's type of family. It's something else.
Okay. It's, it's aberrant. Matter of
fact, the Bible calls it anti-Christ. If it's against the teachings
of Christ and against Christ and what he not only has exemplified,
what he has accomplished, or what he has taught, then it's
anti-Christ, right? Now, the other thing whenever
we say this is our only rule of faith and practice, especially
in the faith part, is this is the only, whenever we want to
know something about God and how God does stuff, whether it's
salvation or whether it's anything. This is what tells us how it
is. God has revealed himself in this book and through this
book has given us information. And then through his spirit,
he confirms in our heart what the truth of it is. Now, to some
people, they can read this, the facts of this book, as I mentioned
last week, they can read the facts of this book, but not know
the understanding and the interpretation of it because it's the Spirit
that reveals. That's very clear in God's Word. It's the Spirit that reveals
the truth of what this says. But it's the truth regardless,
whether they believe it or not, whether they believe it correctly
or not, this still is the truth. And so, again, this is a very
precious thing. And so, whenever the Bible reveals
God and reveals salvation, and we find it in here, how it's
revealed, then the child of grace is brought by the Holy Spirit
into submission of believing on that, but not just believing
upon that, but rejoicing in it. And I find it odd that sometimes,
even among people that believe, and I'll use the doctrines of
grace, specifically election and predestination, things like
that, I find it odd that there are some people who claim they
believe these things, but yet they will not preach them. They
say, you know, if you preach those things, people won't come.
If you preach those things, people will leave. If you preach those
things, you can harm the new believer in Christ Jesus. Those
are things that you should wait until they're more mature in
Christ and preach those things. Well, brethren, Those things
are actually the substance of the Gospel. And aren't we supposed
to preach the Gospel? We're called to preach the Gospel,
right? Well, that's part of it. Part of the Gospel is preaching
not just God's love and God's gift of salvation, but it's to
preach the God who is doing that and how He does that. And also
to preach what it is not. Of course, we talked a little
bit about that last week. A lot of times, some of these
things is not. You know, we talked about propitiation. There's a lot of things that
propitiation is not. What the world, what the all,
what the everyone, what the all people, all these universal terms,
what they don't mean, what they can't mean because of the context. Well, this morning, I'd like
for us to look at Romans chapter 9, And brethren, I can tell you
this is not a popular chapter in the Bible. As a matter of
fact, if you go to a lot of churches' websites and you look down their
preacher's list of all the sermons that he preaches and everything,
you're rarely going to find a Romans 9 in there. Very rarely are you
going to find that. It's not a popular passage of
Scripture to preach on. It's not a doctrine that is readily, or should I say, typically accepted
by most people or most churches. But like I said, if this is God's
Word, and every title of this book
has been breathed out by God. The Bible says all Scripture,
all Scripture is given by inspiration or the breath of God. All Scripture
is given by inspiration of God and is profitable. So that means
all the hard parts of the Scripture that we sometimes don't want
to read is profitable. All the doctrines that we don't
want to have to deal with. God has given to us and it's
profitable. Listen. Numbers. All the names and the tribes
and all the information that's in those books is profitable. Romans 9 is profitable. And we must look at Romans 9
in context with all of the Scripture, and especially the immediate
Scripture here, because Paul has been laying down that justification
of God's people of saving a people who are sinners and guilty before
God, that God is not unrighteous for saving sinners who break
the law of God. And He gives the reason for that
justification, and that reason for justification is the work
of Jesus Christ on their behalf. That justification is by the
faith of Christ. Not your faith. not my faith,
not our believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, but the actual
personal faithfulness of Jesus Christ, that is the grounds by
which God justified all of His people. And it is through the
blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ alone that any of us will
ever be saved. or are saved or ever will come
to know of our salvation. It is because of that. So the
faith that we have in Jesus Christ comes as a result of what God
has already done in Christ Jesus. Because of Christ Jesus. He alone
is the Savior. He alone is how you are saved. You are saved apart from and
separate from Same thing. But apart from, separate from,
anything that you do, God's not waiting on you to do anything
to deem you as already saved. He deemed you as already saved
before the foundation of the world. 2 Timothy 1, verses 9-10,
Who hath saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to His grace and mercy which He
hath given us in Christ Jesus before the foundation of the
world. It was that salvation before the foundation of the
world, the declaration of God of his people to be just before
him based upon that substitution. The substitution of Christ is
what saved you. And God has declared that from
the foundation of the world because Jesus stood as that blame slain
even before the foundation of the world. He stood as the Lamb
slain for His people before everybody was ever even created and before
Adam came and before sin ever entered into the world and death
by sin. Christ stood as the Lamb slain for His people as their
substitute. That substitution is the very
center and heart of the gospel. That substitution is the very
center of the covenant of grace, which is also called the everlasting
covenant, the eternal covenant, the new covenant. That covenant
is centered upon not your accepting of it, not your working it out,
but the fact that Christ was your substitute. He is your covenant. All of the promises of God, and
that's what a covenant is, is a promise to do something. All
of the promises of God are yea and amen in Christ Jesus. So everything that is part of
the promise of God to His people is in Christ Jesus, by Christ
Jesus, and for Christ Jesus, by the way. Your salvation is
not for necessarily just you, but it is for Christ Jesus. As
a matter of fact, there in Romans, just a few pages over, we find
that all things are of Him, and through Him, and to Him be glory
forevermore. So, salvation that Paul has been
building on in Romans 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and now coming into
chapter 9, are all about how Christ has
saved His people and that there's no unrighteousness in God because
Christ is saving sinners apart from the law, apart from works,
but saving them by grace. Someone is going to stand up
and say, See, you know what they're doing
there when they do that? They are standing up and saying,
it's not by God alone, but you have to do something. Now, I'm
not denying that the Bible says that we are saved by grace through
faith. That's what Ephesians says, right? It says you are
saved by grace through faith. And that, not of yourselves,
it is a gift of God. Brethren, but listen to me. The
through faith isn't through your faith. It's through Christ's
faith. Not Christ's faith in you. It's
through Christ's personal faith that He Himself lived out in
our stead when He walked this earth. That's the faith that
saved us, not your faith. Now, the Bible is given to us
and we believe because Christ has given us faith to believe
what He did was enough for our salvation. That faith looks to
Christ alone as the finisher of our salvation. He is the finisher of our salvation. He is the author of our faith.
He is the finisher of our faith. He is the one who has accomplished
everything for our salvation. And so in doing that, all glory
goes to Him. There is nothing for you to work
out. The faith that we have been given is been given for us so
that we might experience that eternal salvation that God has
already declared. Faith has been given to us so
that we who are sinners and devoid of the things of God and the
spiritual aspects of anything The faith is given to us so that
we might receive what we have been given. So that we might
know what has been done for us. So that we might be able to enjoy
and to live in what God has done for us. And that we might be
preserved and persevere knowing that salvation is secure and
firm because it was done outside of us. It didn't have anything
to do with us. If it had anything to do with
us, if there was something that we had to do to get it, there
is something that we can do to lose it. And I know most Baptists
are going to say, well, no, brother, because once we're saved, we're
always saved. except Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior. He'll
never let you go. He'll never let you walk away.
He'll always keep you. He'll always draw you back. And
I always thought that's funny after I've come to the truth
of the gospel that I used to think that God doesn't have any
business in forcing me to be saved, but He has all the right
in the world to force me to stay saved. God can overcome my will
to keep me saved, but God can't overcome my will to bring me
to salvation. You think that's a little hypocritical
there? You think that's a little false in our thinking? A little
dumb in our thinking? How many of y'all have ever heard
that? God's a gentleman. He would never force you to do
anything against your own will. I heard that. I used to hear
Adrian Rogers, the semi-prince of preachers, preach that all
the time. Charles Stanley. All these guys
always would say, God is a gentleman. He will never transgress your
will. He will never cross your will.
I can look him up. I've got video proof of Adrian
Rogers saying it. He will never trample your will.
But yet in another sermon they're going to say, the child of grace
can never fall away because God will not let him. He will keep
him. He will hold him there. You're in His hands. You're in
Christ's hands. And Christ is in the Father's
hands. No one can pluck you out. No
one can steal you away. You can't even steal yourself
away. Well, guess what? God can overcome your will to
walk away from Him, but He can't overcome your will to bring you
to Him. There's fallacy there, brethren.
God has revealed these things and Paul has been building on
the very nature of salvation in that it is by grace and grace
alone that saved us. It is by grace alone. I used
to, whenever I would email somebody or write somebody, I would always,
down at the bottom, I would always put, by grace through faith,
Michael Smith. Now it's just by grace. by grace,
because everything is by grace. If I'm to know that I am saved,
it's by grace. If I'm to know that I am a sinner,
it's by grace. If I'm to know that Christ has
chosen me from all the foundations of the world to be his child,
it's by grace, because it is the Spirit that bears record
with my spirit that I am his son. So it's by grace. If the Spirit doesn't reveal
that to me, if the Spirit doesn't intercede into my heart and bring
that to my heart, guess what? I won't get it. And he doesn't
do that for everybody. If he does that for everybody,
you know what that's not called? Grace. It's just called everyday
everything. Grace is something that's given
to somebody that doesn't deserve it. And the fact remains that
the Bible has clearly said that every single man, woman, and
child does not deserve it. for all have sinned and fallen
short of the glory of God. All we have gone away, we have
went to our own. The Bible says that God looked
down upon man and he saw that the intent of his heart was evil
continually. That's who we are apart from
Jesus Christ. So if that's how we are apart
from Jesus Christ, It takes Jesus Christ coming into us to make
us something else. That's why Paul said, what has
caused thee to differ? What makes me to differ? What
am I different than anybody else that's out there? The grace of
God. The grace of God has been given to me. Well, brethren,
what does that have to do with Romans chapter 9? Because a lot
of people look at Romans chapter 9 and they look at this as a
doctrine of the devil. They look at this chapter right
here, and the doctrine that comes from it, and what we believe
about it, and what we preach from this chapter, they will
say, that's the doctrine of devils. If you preach election, that's
the doctrine of devils. But we're preaching, whenever
you preach election, you are preaching the grace of God. When
you preach election, you're preaching the love of God. When you preach
election, you're preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. When you preach election, you
are preaching the very character of God, which is sovereign. By
the way, just a side note, and I know you guys have heard me
say this, but some may be listening that hasn't. God's sovereignty
has been placed above His love His compassion. Listen. Even His holiness. You say, well, wait a minute.
Wait a minute. Now, if God's holy, that's the
most important thing. It is very important. And really,
you can't dissect God. In everything that God is, in
all of His character and attributes, God is perfection. If He's love,
He's perfect love and all love. If He is holy, He is all holy
and holiness itself. But brethren, listen. The Bible
says whenever God gives His name to Moses, He says, I am that
I am. And in that phrase, I am that
I am, it means I will be who I will be. I will do what I will
do. I am sovereign. That's what that
phrase I am that I am means. It means sovereignty. And God
said, and this is my memorial to all generations. What's the memorial to all? What
is it that God wants to be known as or known for in every generation
that he told Moses, this is my name and this is who I am and
this is my memorial for all generations. This is back in Exodus. His name, His sovereignty. How
is it that God wants every generation to proclaim Him sovereign? Why do we call ourselves Sovereign
Grace Baptist Church? Because God said He wants His
memorial to be known in every generation of His sovereignty. So we preach sovereign grace.
We preach a sovereign God. We preach sovereign election.
We preach sovereign redemption. We preach sovereign Perseverance. We preach everything that's in
this life according to the sovereign Creator who made it all, who
is the potter and we are the clay. Who is the Creator of all
things and we are His creation. So we preach that because He
has declared that that's how He wants to be known. So whenever
you come to Romans 9 and you look at this and say, well, this
isn't talking about God doing all the choosing. This is about
us. That's about nations, okay? Brethren,
let the context say what it says. Paul has just, in Romans chapter
eight, said that there is a group of people called the called.
For whom he did foreknow, them he also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn
among many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestinate
them, also He called. And whom He called, them He also
justified. And whom He justified, them He
also glorified. What shall we say then, if God
be for us, who can be against us?" So God here is talking about
a people that He, before the foundation of the world, foreknew
and predestinated to the end of being predestinated to the conforming to the image of Jesus
Christ. Whenever we die and this body
goes to the dust, whenever we are resurrected, it's not going
to be with this old body. It's going to be with the body
conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. This right here is just
in the likeness of Jesus Christ, but it is not in the image of
Jesus Christ. It isn't the same as Jesus Christ.
It isn't perfection. The outside is not commensurate
with what's inside. What's inside is born from above. It is a spiritual person, and
we on the outside, in this body who we are in Adam, is just of
the earth, mirthy, and is of flesh, and can never please God,
and is imperfect, and will not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Because the Bible says that flesh and blood will not enter into
the Kingdom of Heaven. So a body God has prepared for
us, just like He did for our first brother. He prepared a
body for Him. And that body was not an earthly
body, it was a heavenly body. And that heavenly body came down
and inhabited this world. And it was all of God that was
in that body. And in that body, God revealed
Himself, the face of God in Jesus Christ. He is the Emmanuel, God
with us. And he proclaimed all that God
is, all that God had purposed. He fulfilled all
that God had wrote about and told about. And he fulfilled
everything, not only of the old, but he fulfilled everything of
the new. Everything has been settled by God in Christ Jesus. And Christ Jesus has come And
listen, whenever we go into glory, we are going to be made like
unto Him. God dwelling in a body. The Spirit of God has come and
quickened our spirit, but yet what we are inwardly is not the
same as what we are outwardly. At the resurrection, we are all
going to be made like His heavenly body. In Romans 9, we learn that this
choice of God to save some and to not save others is revealed in Scripture. And
if it's revealed in Scripture, if we are a child of grace, we
must take that as our rule of faith. Whenever we look at God,
We have to have the category in our mind that God is a God
who elects and reprobates. We have to have the category
in our mind that God loves and hates. How many of y'all in here
has ever heard somebody say that God doesn't hate anybody? I used
to preach that. I used to preach that. And it
was ingrained into my mind that God loves everybody because God
is love. God can't hate somebody because
God is love. Well, the Bible also says that
God hates people. The Bible also says that God
is wrathful. If God is everything that His
character says, so if He's love, He's all love. If He is holy,
He's all holy. Then if God is hate, He is in
complete and full perfection of hate. If he is wrathful, he
is in full and perfection of wrath. You can't have a more
perfect wrath than God. I know that kind of sounds weird,
but listen, we have wrath from selfish and evil and sinful motives. God has wrath from a holy motive. God has wrath from a just and
righteous motive. God has hate in a perfect holy,
righteous hatred, we have hate by prejudice, by sin. God can hate without sin. God can have wrath without being
subjected to somebody else because He is the judge. God has no commandments
over His head. God has no law over Him. God is not subjected to the Ten
Commandments. God gave the Ten Commandments
to carnal man to prove that carnal man is unholy. That's what the
commandments was given for. But those commandments aren't
God's commandments. God's commandments are not over
him. And I know a lot of people say,
well, they're the very character of God, so they have to be. He
has to abide by them because they come from the very character
of God. Please show me where that says that in the Scripture.
Because I find in several places in the Scripture that God does
in His sovereignty quite contrary to what He has said not to do. Whenever He says, Thou shalt
not kill, that was for us. But what does God do? Every day. God kills people every day. Every person in this world has
a certain time that you're going to die. Some people may die peacefully
in their sleep by old age, and organs going out just fade off
into nothing. Some are violently killed in
car crashes. Some are violently stabbed, shot, murdered, whatever. God sent Israel in to wipe out
whole entire nations as they came into Canaan. Now, who's
going to be his judge and say, you can't do that? I'm surely
not gonna try to be God's judge. Whenever God says that this is
not right or you can't do that, who are we to tell God that he's
wrong, right? So, when we come to Romans chapter
nine, we find that God has revealed something about how we are saved. Now again, some people will say
that this is talking about This is talking about nations and
not individuals. But I think the context bears
out, brethren. This is talking about individuals and not nations. It might use the terms about
nations if someone wants to push it that far. But brethren, the
context is very clear. But let's go ahead and start
reading Romans chapter 9 and verse 1. It says, I say the truth
in Christ, I lie not. And brethren, that's very important
that Paul starts this out this way. He says, I say the truth
in Christ. This isn't Paul's truth. This
isn't the Jew's truth. It isn't the Pharisee's truth.
This isn't just the Apostle's truth that has, you know, he's
come up and, you know, hey, I'm an Apostle, so whatever I say
is now truth. That's not true either. If Paul the Apostle, I like what
Brother Royce always says when it comes to the inspiration of
Scripture. The men were not inspired. The
words are inspired. The men just wrote the words
down. It's the words that are inspired. If Paul wrote down
a grocery list, that didn't automatically become inspired writing, okay? He says, I say the truth in Christ
and lie not. My conscience also bearing me
witness in the Holy Ghost. that I have a great heaviness
and continual sorrow in my heart, for I could wish that myself
were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen." Now
here it is, brethren, this is where we begin to see the context
of individual election. He says, I wish that I could
be accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen, according
to the flesh. Remember, Paul, all through his
epistles, whether it's in Romans or whether it's in some of the
other epistles, always makes the distinction between the carnal
or fleshly man, the outward man, and the spiritual man. There
is a duality in the child of grace. There is the fleshly man
and there is the spiritual man. There is the reprimand also,
and then there is the elect child of grace. So there is two seeds
of people And then in the child of grace,
there are two manners of people. There is the fleshly man and
there is the spiritual man. And Paul here is saying, according
to the flesh, according to my actual blood kin, you know, I
wish that I would be a curse so that they could be saved.
He says, for I wish that myself were a curse from Christ for
my brethren, my kinsmen, according to the flesh, who are Israelites,
to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants,
and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises."
Now, before we get too far in here, this is not, because as
soon as someone hears the word adoption, they're saying, uh-uh,
that's talking about the spiritual things there, because we're talking
about adoption. The doctrine of adoption. Brethren,
it's not talking about the doctrine of adoption, Because if they
were adopted of God, every one of them would be receiving salvation. That means that they are the
sons of God in the spiritual sonship. The adoption of God
has to do with adoption of sons of the spiritual seed. The spiritual
sonship. Not fleshly sonship. It's spiritual
sonship. And so this adoption is not talking
about the adoption spiritually. This is God adopting this family
of people from every nation. He adopted them as His group
of people who would bring forth the type of the spiritual and
true Israel. He adopted them to be the place
where He would come and show Himself, where He would come
and reveal His purpose in salvation through types and foreshadows.
And He chose them above every nation. So yes, as far as this
is concerned, this is talking about nations here. But Paul
is making the distinction that this whole topic that I'm about
to dive into is between flesh and spirit. There is a fleshly
Israel and then I wish would all become spiritual Israel. Paul is praying and hoping that
in God's purpose and decree, that all of his kinsmen, according
to the flesh, would become true Israelites. Even though they're
Israelites, he wants them to be true Israelites. That are
those who are of the Spirit, not of the flesh. He says, whose
are the fathers and of whom is concerning the flesh Christ came,
who is over all. God bless forever. We know that
Christ came physically under the law in the spiritual line,
or excuse me, in the fleshly line of David. Although his flesh
wasn't of this world, by the way. He didn't receive his manhood
from Mary. His being the direct descendant
to David came because he was legally birthed from Mary, but
not because he received his flesh from Mary. He didn't receive
his flesh from Mary. The Bible is very clear of that.
His flesh came down from heaven. and the Holy Spirit overshadowed
her and she conceived in her that heavenly body from above.
So she didn't, of course we know that she had never laid with
a man so there was no manly seed that was ever given to her. So
the flesh didn't come from Joseph or any other man and women don't
have seed. Women don't have a seed. That was implanted in her, that
child was a body that came from heaven. And so he says, concerning the
flesh, Christ came. So national Israel, his kinsmen,
while although they were given the adoption as a nation to be
who God would show himself forth from, who would receive all the
ordinances and the covenants, what was the two covenants? It
said the two covenants there, the covenant of circumcision
and the old covenant of Sinai. They received that. But even
though they received that, some were not being saved. Some were
not believing upon Jesus. And so Paul is trying to make
a distinction. I wish that all my kinsmen, according to the
flesh, would become true Israelites, Israelites of the Spirit and
not of the flesh, because that which is of the flesh is temporal.
and doesn't mean anything. It's only those who are the children
of promise that are counted as the seed. Those are the ones
that I hope that they are, that God has done that for them. So
he goes through here and he says, verse 6 is very pivotal, brethren,
because Paul here is understanding that to that Israelite of the
flesh, when they see that Paul is preaching, that salvation
came only through Christ Jesus, and those whom Christ saves believes
on Jesus, and those who don't believe on Jesus are reprobates
and are not saved, the true Israelite of the flesh is going to say,
whoa, wait a minute. We're Israel. We're saved. We're God's people. We're of
Abraham, and therefore, how are you saying that we're not saved?
And Paul is saying, because There is a difference in the salvation
that you are thinking the Messiah came to do. You're thinking the
Messiah came to save you as a fleshly nation, but He came to save His
spiritual Israelites. The Israelites from all the Old
Testament that were true Israelites, and all the ones who will be
coming down the pike, not only from Israel, but from every tribe
and nation, they too are true Israelites. So no matter whether
you come from America, whether you come from Africa, whether
you come from Russia, whether you come from China, whether
you come from Australia, or you come from South America somewhere,
it doesn't matter where you come from, you're a true Israelite
if you are born of the Spirit of God. That is the true Israelite. It's a spiritual person, not
the fleshly person. And Paul is trying to make that
clear, that all those who are of the true Israel, will believe
because they have been chosen by God to be the recipients of
this salvation. I think that will come out a little
bit clearer here in a minute. Not as though the Word of God had
taken none effect. So he's basically saying the
Word of God has not fallen or has not been broken. The promise
of God to Israel has not been broken. You're just misinterpreting
what the promise is. And brethren, listen. That's
the problem with most churches and most people who profess to
be Christians today. They are misinterpreting the
purpose of God, the salvation of God, the work of Christ, and
how salvation is brought to the child of grace. They are misinterpreting
that. They are coming from man's wisdom
that is teaching religion and not true Salvation. It's teaching a works religion
of acceptance, of receiving, of believing, of repenting, of
baptism, of church membership, of law keeping. All those things,
they're teaching those things as the hinge pin on which God
gives you your salvation. If you don't do that, then God
won't give you. You've already been given that
before you ever do any of those things. And the child of grace
will do those things, by the way, because that's what's been
put in their heart by the Spirit of God who gives them faith,
who gives them rest, who gives them belief, who gives them repentance,
who brings them to acknowledge the Bible says that we are to
be baptized and they present themselves to be baptized because
they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, who brings them to see
that we should be a part of a local fellowship if there's one in
our area, we should join ourselves to that, and in joint fellowship,
praise and worship the Lord Jesus Christ. All the things that come
from salvation, every child of grace will be brought into that.
But those by no means are the condition upon which you get
it. And Paul is saying, it's not as though the Word of God
is taken into effect. Now here it is, brethren, and read it
with me there. Verse 6, For they are not all
Israel, which are of Israel." There's where that distinction
is made between the flesh and the spirit. Fleshly Israel is
not spiritual Israel. However, spiritual Israel can
be fleshly Israel because Paul was of Israel in the flesh, but he was also
of Christ Israel in the spirit. Look at verse 7. Neither because
they are the seed of Abraham are they all children. See, just
because they are the lineage of Abraham didn't mean that they're
true Israelites. They're true Israelites if they
are the children of Abraham in the Spirit. Meaning that they
have been given to believe on Jesus Christ through quickening. But it says, But in Isaac shall
thy seed be. If you remember, brethren, Abraham
had two children. Well, he had many children, but
he started off, the first child that Abraham had was Ishmael. And Ishmael, he had by his bondservant. And that bondservant was not
the promise that God made. God said Sarah would have a child
who was barren, who had reached the age where her and Abraham
both couldn't have children, but yet God promised Abraham,
you and Sarah will have a child. They didn't believe God. So much
for Abraham's faith, right? They didn't believe God, but
what did they do? They took things in their own
hands and then Sarah said, well, why don't you lay with my bondservant,
Hagar, and bear us a child? And so Abraham believed that.
And why wouldn't Abraham? He was a man. Oh, you mean my
wife has given me permission to go out with this other woman? Sure. So Abraham lays with another
woman and they have Ishmael. And God says, wait a minute,
Ishmael is not going to be the children of promise. Even though
he's Abraham's flesh, he is not the children of promise. Matter
of fact, He said, the bond woman and her son must be cast out. And he casted them out. He said,
through Isaac will the promise be made. And then you go from
Isaac... We'll just go ahead and let the
Word of God say it. Look at verse 8. That is, they
which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children
of God, but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. For this is the word of promise,
at this time will I come and Sarah shall have a son. Now,
not only that, After Sarah had a son and she had Isaac, Isaac
then turned around and had a wife whose name was Rebekah. And guess what? Rebekah also
became barren and could not have children. But God promised that
in Rebekah would also come the seed which would eventually be
Christ and all of His people, Isaac would have a child. Well,
how is that going to happen? Rebekah is barren. The Lord miraculously
caused Rebekah to have children. And not only one child, but she
had twins. Rebekah had twins, Esau and Jacob. Esau came from the womb first. Jacob came out, clutching onto
his heel. They came out, and the Bible
says that God told Rebecca that within her womb was two manner
of men, not just nation. It said there would be two nations
in her, but there would also be two manner of men in her. I want you to key in on that,
brethren, that this was a child of promise, and it wasn't through
Esau that the promise would come, just like it wasn't through Ishmael
the promise would come, even though both of those were born
of the flesh of Abraham, Esau was as much of a fleshly child
of Abraham as Isaac and Jacob were. But God did not choose
Ishmael and God did not choose Esau to be the one through which
the promise would come. He chose Isaac and he chose Jacob
And Jacob, whenever he came out, was no better than Esau. Esau
was a bad man, and so was Jacob. But God said there are two manners
of men in there. That really struck me a few years
ago when I preached on this. There's a message I have on Sermon
Audio about it that I did. But there are two manners of
men in there. There is one manner of man who is of the flesh, and
there is one manner of man that is of the Spirit. One who is
rejected of God and one who is accepted of God. But how are
they accepted and how are they rejected? Why do you think God
rejects Esau? On what grounds did God reject
Esau? Because he was born first? Well, actually no, because the
first born child is actually the one that's kind of funny.
We were talking before the cameras came on this morning, before
we started service, we were talking about estates and who gets the
estate and brother, Larry was talking about a brother that
he knows and how the younger son actually was the one who
was given the control over the parents' estate when they passed
away and the older brother didn't. And the older brother got mad
about that and the younger brother was the one who received that
blessing and through that blessing actually blessed the other brother
as well. But anyway, we see here, what
happened with Esau and Jacob? Well, whenever they were born,
Esau was the one that should have had the birthright because
he was the firstborn. Even though they were twins, Esau is the
one who came from the womb first, so he should have had the birthright.
But God said Esau's not going to get the birthright, Jacob
is, and he maneuvered a whole sneaky affair between Rebekah
and Jacob to steal the blessing from Esau because Rebekah loved
Jacob more than she loved Esau. And she wanted Esau to not have
the blessing and for Jacob to have the blessing. And so they
worked out this whole little sneaky scheme to get Jacob the
blessing even though this was God's predestinated purpose. You mean all that evil stuff
that went on, that lying, that cheating, that covert activity? Purpose by God, absolutely it
was. But guess what? Esau did not receive the blessing,
Jacob did. So the firstborn didn't get it,
the secondborn got it. Does that sound familiar? If
we talk about spiritual things? The firstborn doesn't get the
blessing, the secondborn does. Those who are born of the flesh,
they profit nothing and they get nothing. The flesh receives
nothing in this life. The flesh receives nothing in
eternity of the inheritance. It's the secondborn. That's why
Jesus told Nicodemus, you must be born again. It's because it's
always that secondborn that receives the blessing. Isaac was the secondborn. Jacob was the secondborn. The
child of grace is the secondborn. The child of Adam is the firstborn. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh and cannot please God. That which is born of the Spirit
is Spirit. And the Bible says that that
which is born of God, that that seed that remains in Him is perfect
and sinless. Born in holiness and true righteousness. Brethren, that's who we're talking
about here. It's the children of the promise
that are counted for the seed. It's the children that are born
inwardly. That spiritual child of grace
that we're talking about here. And so he said it had nothing
to do with anything that those children did. Ishmael didn't
do anything to deserve his rejection. Esau didn't do anything to deserve
his rejection as far as how it weighed out with God. God didn't
pick Esau because Esau was a bad man and Jacob was a good man. If you don't believe me, look
on here, verse 11, for the children, talking about Esau and Jacob,
being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil. I mean,
they haven't been born yet, right? So how could they have done any
good and evil if they had not yet been born? But God has said,
before the children, being not yet born, nor having done any
good or evil, that, and here's the important
part of this, that the purpose of God, according to election,
might stand. Why did God choose Jacob and
not Esau? Because the purpose of God was
that Jacob would receive the blessing and not Esau. That the
purpose of God, according to election, might stand. And listen,
brethren, whether it's with Ishmael and Isaac or Jacob and Esau,
on down the line through all of eternity or all of time, it is always going to be the
same. God's purpose of election shall stand. So what does that
tell us? Well, number one, that means
only the ones that God in His purpose of election chooses will
be the ones who will be saved because God's purpose of election
is going to stand. But this also tells us that God
has a purpose of election. There are some people, and I've
just recently heard some people say that God has not elected
some to be saved and some not to be saved. That God's purpose
isn't election, it's a relationship. God has purpose to have a relationship. He wants to get God into you
so that you could be God to everybody out there, so that you could
show God to everybody else. Listen, the flesh can't show
God to anybody. We can show little glimpses of
love and little glimpses of of kindness and a little glimpses
of mercy, and we can definitely share some gospel with people.
But listen, we can't show God. That's the purpose in why Christ
came. Christ came so that God would
be seen. As I preached last week, there's
only one mediator between God and man. The only one who is
mediating who God is to people is Christ Jesus. Not us. We're
not mediating God to other people. Christ is the only mediator.
And so in this, brethren, election is going to stand, and God has
a purpose in election. But there are some that believe
that God doesn't elect, that He wants to have a relationship
with everybody. Therefore, there is a universal
desire for all to be saved. And therefore, God sent a universal
Savior to have a universal redemption, a universal atonement. so that
everybody might have it. Well, if God universally wants
everybody to be saved, and God universally wants to have a relationship
with everybody, and God universally sent a universal Savior for a
universal atonement, there will be a universal salvation, because
God said, I will do all my purpose. If God does all of His purpose,
brethren, the purpose of God is according to election. If
God has elected, and He has, the Bible says He has, if that's
His purpose, then He's going to do it. And if He's elected
everybody to be saved, if He's elected everybody for a relationship,
if He's elected everybody to be the recipients of the atonement
of Jesus Christ, then everybody is going to because God will
fulfill His purpose. Bar none. bar nothing, God will do as He said He would
do. All of the promises of God are yea and amen in Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ came and fulfilled all that the Father had given
Him to do. Therefore, it is finished. So if that is true, and you believe
that to be true, then everything that God has purposed is going
to be accomplished. There are people out there saying
that God's will and God's purpose is not being accomplished because
our frail will is causing Him to not have what He desires.
That is not the God of Scripture. That is why we have this Word
that tells us we have a God that cannot be overcome. I am that
I am. That means that I am self-sufficient. I am who I am. I will do what
I will do. There is none out there that
is telling me what I have to do. There is none that I seek.
The Bible says that who gives counsel to God? Who is it that
can give counsel unto God? No one can. God doesn't even
take counsel from anybody. He has purposed and declared
the end from the beginning before the foundation of the world,
before any of you or I have ever stepped foot on this planet.
None of us. can say to God and tell Him what
to do or cause Him to do something contrary to what He wants to
do. We may think we can. We have a perception, what we
perceive to be changing God's mind because we do bad things
or we cause things to change, but God doesn't change. On the
outskirts, God has purposed everything. And for us to think And we have
a choice in the matter of salvation when God has said that the purpose
of God according to election might stand. And that word might
doesn't mean maybe so. It means will stand. It shall
stand. The reason that God chose Jacob
and not Esau is because God, before the foundation of the
world, had a purpose of saving His people and His people alone. And how did you get into the
group of His people? It wasn't by anything good or
bad that you did. Wouldn't accepting Jesus Christ
as your Lord and Savior be something good? Wouldn't repenting of your sin
be something good? Wouldn't confessing Jesus Christ
before men be something good? Wouldn't going through the baptistry
waters and confessing my death, burial and resurrection in Jesus
Christ, wouldn't that be something good? Wouldn't becoming a member
of a church be something good? All those are good things. Guess
what? God didn't elect you according to any of that. Your belief in
on Him? No. Your love for Him? No. He
didn't elect you according to that. Is the reason that some are not
saved because they hate God? Because the Bible says that all
men are enmity with God. They hate God. They're God haters. Is the reason that some men are
not saved is because they are murderers? Because the Bible
says that we are swift to shed blood. That in our heart is anger. And whenever we are angry at
another person, in our heart that we've done as much as murder
them? Is it because we're adulterers?
Because the Bible says if we look on a woman or a man to lust,
we've committed adultery in our heart. It's what? We're all there. If you say you're
not, you're a liar too. Now you're a liar on top of all
the other stuff you are. Because every one of us has looked
on someone else in lust. God didn't choose some because
they were good and some because they were bad. Because God's
choice of election stood before the foundation of the world when
God foreknew. He foreknew a people. And those
people He wrote down, whether He did it physically, I don't
know. The Bible says that names were written down. Now, whether
that's just metaphorically speaking, because God doesn't need to do
that. But the fact remains, and the
juxt of the matter is, that God knew a specific people, and He
knew them by name, and He chose them as His people, and He set
His love upon them, because God is free to love those whom He
chooses, and to not love those whom He chooses. And God chose
to set His love upon some, and so He gave those people to Christ
to be their surety, so that these people, even though they would
be brought into sin and brought into death and corruption before
Him to be unholy people, in Adam, these people would stand eternally,
forever, in eternity and in time before Him in love justified. because of the surety. That's
why the purpose of God according to election is important, brother,
because it is by that election that we stand in grace. We stand in grace before God
because God elected us. Election is important. If we
don't preach election, we are not preaching the Gospel. And
all those that hate this doctrine of election are hating Christ. They are an enemy of the Gospel. Because election is the very
heart of the Gospel. Because God's love is displayed
in that He loved one and He didn't love the other. Look what it
says there. that the purpose of God according
to election might stand, not worse, but him that called, it
was said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger." Now,
there's something I could preach about on that, but I'm not going
to do that today. As it is written, Jacob have I loved. Now, look
at me. Are you looking at verse 13 in
your Bibles? Are you looking? Because I don't want you to take
my word for it, because there are some people that say, whether
it's me or whether it's Larry or any other preacher that preaches
these doctrines, they're saying, well, you're just preaching what
John Calvin said. Or you're just preaching what John Gill said.
Or you're just preaching Calvinism. Or you're just preaching your
theology. I want you to look at what the
Bible says and not what Mike says. It says, Romans 9, 13,
as it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau
have I hated. Now let me ask you the question
again. Does God hate anybody? No. Let's read verse 13 again. Y'all
have your Bibles. Actually, why don't you read
along with me out loud, okay? Read along with me out loud.
Verse 13. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. So let me ask you the question
again. Does God hate anybody? Yes. Esau. He hated Esau, right? Now, that comes from Malachi. If you want to turn to Malachi,
that's the last book in the Old Testament. It's right before
Matthew. That's a quote from Malachi chapter
one. Malachi, M-A-L-A-C-H-I. Kind of looks like Malachi. Malachi. In your Bible, it may
be different than other people. It's the last book of the Old
Testament right before the New Testament. Malachi chapter 1. It says in Malachi chapter 1
and verse 1, the burden of the Word of the Lord to Israel by
Malachi. So God here is speaking to Israel
through Malachi. God says to Israel, now again,
we're talking about the promise of God's eternal love, God's
eternal salvation, is not to physical Israel, but to spiritual
Israel. I have loved you, saith the Lord. So God is declaring His love
for His people. God is declaring His love for
His people. I have loved you, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, wherein hast thou
loved us? So God is saying, I have loved
you, but you're asking me, how is it that you have loved us? How do we know that you love
us? And God responds, was not Esau
Jacob's brother, saith the Lord? Yet I loved Jacob, and I hated
Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the
dragons of the wilderness." Y'all didn't even know dragons existed,
did you? But they're real. Okay, we'll talk about that later. I didn't mean to get into a discussion
about it. But what does it say there? God
said, I love you, my people, I love you. And they said, well,
how do we know you love us? And God responded, this is how
I loved you. I loved you, but I hated Esau. So God chose these people to
be the recipients of his love. And He didn't choose Esau to
be a recipient of His love, but of His hate. So, is that another
place in the Bible that says that God hated somebody? Well, yeah, it does. Well, let me ask you this. If
God loved His people and that's how He showed them that He loved
them. You remember last week we talked
about John 3.16? For God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son. Well, the giving of the only
begotten Son is to the people that He loved. Because He so
loved them that He gave His Son to them that they should not
perish. So now you see the context of
Scripture. Who are the ones who Jesus died
for? The ones that He loved. But does
God love everybody? No. No. No, God doesn't love
everybody. There's another passage of Scripture,
and it just left out of my head. Brother, you might be able to
help me on that, but it says that He hates all doers of iniquity. I think that's in the Psalms
somewhere. It's in the Old Testament. The
song of the Solomon? No. I know this might be counterproductive. Well, I wouldn't say counterproductive. Some is maybe foolishness. I sit here trying to find all
this and We figured out it's not very
professional, preacher. Yes, Psalms chapter 5. And look
with me if you would down in verse 5. The foolish shall not stand in
thy sight. Thou paidest all workers of iniquity. Psalm 5, 5? Chapter 5, verse
5. See your chapters are at the top. Yeah, there you go. See
that's Job. There's Psalms. See how they have the numbers,
there's Psalms. There's five, number is five. Okay. So it says, the foolish
shall not stand in thy sight. Thou hatest all workers of iniquity. Now there are three places right
there that we just read where it says that God hates certain
people, right? The Bible says that in the mouth
of two or three witnesses, a thing is established. God has established in three,
and there's actually more than these three places, rather. I'm
just bringing these out because those are the ones I have in
my memory. And I know some people will say,
well, yeah, but God hates the sin, but He loves the sinner. That's not what that said, right?
You read that with me. It said He hates all workers
of iniquity. He didn't say works of iniquity.
He said He hates all workers of iniquity. Now let me ask you,
who are the workers of iniquity? Well, that's true, but every
one of us that has ever lived are workers of iniquity. So does
He hate everybody? Well, no, because he said that
he loved some and didn't love others. But listen, he said he
didn't base that love upon anything good or bad that they did. So
he didn't base the fact that he hated them because they were
workers of iniquity. He just hates the workers of
iniquity. That's the category. He hates
the workers of iniquity. That includes everyone who is
a worker of iniquity. But here's the gospel, brothers,
and listen, this is why the doctrine of election is a wonderful doctrine
to preach and should be preached to new believers and should be
a rejoicing of a doctrine that is in the Word of God. The Bible
says, Blessed is the man unto whom
the Lord imputed not sin. He also says that he, God, hath
not beheld iniquity in Jacob, nor hath he seen perverseness
in Israel, for the shout of a king is among them. We are workers
of iniquity in this fleshly man, Esau, but we are perfect in God's
sight in that spiritual man, Jacob. Proverbs 16. Proverbs 16. Proverbs is after
Psalms. And then chapter 16 and verse 4. Here you go, and this is actually
a great verse because it's going to tie in exactly what we're
fixing to read in Romans. This is going to be a long sermon
today, but I can tell you. Bear with us, and if you have
to skip out, join us later. The Lord hath made all things
for Himself, yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. The Lord
made the wicked for the day of evil. He had a purpose in making
men to be wicked. And in that wickedness, He had
a purpose, didn't He? Oh no, He doesn't. God's not
the author of sin. Someone say, God's not the author
of sin. Right here it says, God created
the wicked. He made the wicked for a purpose,
for the day of evil. He made the wicked for the day
of their wickedness, for the times that they mislead." That's
why in Acts we find, that's going to leave me off a rabbit trail,
by the way, that he said that, "...ye by wicked hands have taken
and crucified the Son of God." Whenever Paul was talking about
what God had ordained from the foundation of the world, or,
excuse me, Peter, you before the foundation of the world in
your determinate counsel had chosen that these wicked men
by their wicked hands would do this wicked deed to the Son of
God." That was God's purpose. That was God's will that Christ
would be crucified. Because God had a purpose in
Christ being crucified, and that purpose was to save those He
loved. Brethren, the blessedness of
the Gospel is that this, He hates all workers of iniquity, and
we surely are workers of iniquity, but the blessed thing is that
the purpose of God is according to election. And His purpose
was that those whom He loved, He predestinated to be conformed
to the image of God. And how does He do that? By sending
His only Son to die for them. and by sending His Spirit into
them so that they might rejoice in the gloriousness of their
salvation." How does God show His love for us? We want to talk
about God's love. How does God show His love for
us? By choosing us to be saved. Not us choosing Him to be saved. It's God choosing us. The Bible
says that. Man, now there's like a thousand
verses coming to my mind. Ephesians 1. Ephesians 1. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus. Verse 3. Blessed be the God and
Father of the Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ, according as
He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world.
That's election. To choose somebody, that's election, right? And when
did He do the choosing? When He's seen you have faith? No. Nowhere does it say that,
anywhere in Scripture. He chose us before the foundation
of the world. For what purpose? Why did He
have to choose us before the foundation of the world? Well,
I think there's a couple of reasons that I could lay claim to. One
is, He did it before the foundation of the world, before man even
entered into sin, so that there would never be a time that God
has not viewed His people in love. Why? Why is that important that
we see it that way? Because God has said this. He
has revealed this about Himself. I have loved Thee with an everlasting
love. Well, how do we know that You
loved us with an everlasting love? What did they say in Malachi?
How do we know that You loved us with an everlasting love?
Because I have chosen you and not them. Well, when did God
do the choosing? When we've done something good
or bad? before the foundation of the world. Brethren, there
never was a time that we have ever been in the crosshairs of
God for wrath, for hatred, for damnation. Never a time. Why? Because we have always stood
in Christ Jesus because we were elected in Him before the foundation
of the world. Look what it says there. According
as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world,
for what purpose? That we should be holy and without blame before
Him in love. Verse 5, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children. Now that is talking about the
spiritual adoption and not the fleshly adoption. He's talking
about the spiritual adoption here. Unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to Himself according to what? You raising your hand
and walking down an aisle? Is that why Jesus chose you and
put you in Him? Because you did something? No,
it's because you did anything good or evil. What was it? It
was because the purpose of God according to your election might
stand. And what does it say here in verse 5? It said, according
to the good pleasure of your free will? That's not what it
says, is it? What does it say there? What's
that last phrase? Ephesians chapter 1 verse 5.
The good pleasure of His will. You are saved according to His
will, not your will. For what purpose? Look at verse
6. To the praise of the glory of His grace wherein He hath
made us accepted in the Beloved. He hath made us accepted in the
Beloved. We are beloved because we have
been put into Christ. And how were we put into Christ?
He chose us. before the foundation of the
world. The Lord kind of took me in a
different direction there, brethren. Let me get back to a couple of
things back in Romans chapter 9. I think it's very clear here
that we can now say that God doesn't love everybody, right?
And if the Bible says that, should we be embarrassed to proclaim
that? It's hard to say that. I will
admit that. It's hard to be a preacher and
preach. God doesn't love everybody. Let me give you an example. It's
hard as a parent to be able to say that there's a possibility
that God hasn't loved all my children. I mean, even now, that's
hard for me to get a little bit of a knot in my throat, OK? That
God hasn't loved all my children. I don't know that. And guess
what? I can't force God to love my children. And I have no warrant
in Scripture to say that God does love my children except
for God giving them faith to believe in Him. That's the only
way that I can know if my children have been known of God. And even
then, I don't know 100%. But the only way that I can know
that God has saved my children or anybody else is their love
for God and love for the brethren. The true God of Scripture, not
the fairytale God that's being preached in a lot of fake churches
out there, but the true God and the true brethren and the love
for the Gospel, the true Gospel, not just the generic Gospel of
Jesus died and was buried and resurrected on the third day.
That's not the Gospel. That's part of the Gospel, but
that's not the Gospel. How do I know that God has loved
somebody? because He has caused them to
be born again, not by anything that they've done or any action
that they did. He caused them to be born again
to believe upon Him and to love Him and to love His brethren.
That's how I can view and at least have a hope that they have
been saved. If I have a hope that my child
has been saved, it's because they have exhibited the fact
that they love the true and holy God of Scripture that is revealed,
the One who does elect, the One who does damn, the One who does
love and hate, the One who is elected, the One who has died
for His people and has saved all of His people, that God,
any other God is a false God. and a non-existent God, by the
way, because there are no other gods. There is only one God.
There is no other gods beside Him. There is no other gods in
this world, no matter what everybody claims. Yes, they say that there
is a Buddha. Yes, they say that there is a
Muhammad. Yes, they say that there is a whatever else, but
they don't exist. They're not actual, real things. There's only one God. And that
God has revealed Himself as one who loves His people, who has
elected those people, and has sent Christ to die for those
people. And then Paul, just like everyone
in this room right now, and everybody out there in this whole entire
world, in our Adamic man, The first question that comes to
mind whenever someone says that God loves one and not the other,
and God saves those whom He chooses and not anybody else, the first
question that comes to mind is what? That's not fair. Kind of like we were talking
about this morning, how come women can't be preachers and
men can? That's not fair. Well, that's what God has determined.
Just like salvation. God has determined it. And the
first thing that comes to our mind is, that's not fair. And the second thing that comes
to mind is, well, that's unrighteous. God can't hate somebody. God
can't choose somebody to be saved and not another because He has
to give everybody the chance. Well, listen, if God didn't give
anybody a chance, nobody would ever want to be saved. If God
didn't give anybody salvation, if God didn't give anybody the
Holy Spirit to cause them to know their sinfulness, they would
never see themselves to be ultimately sinful to the point of needing
someone else to be their Savior. They would think that they could
do good works to accommodate God's holiness. I can accommodate God by doing
good works, so I would just do more good works. The only way
they could ever know their need for salvation and ever know the
greatness of this salvation of election and grace alone is by
the Holy Spirit of God being given to them. But the first
thing we say is that's not fair and that's unrighteous. But look
with me, Romans chapter 9 and look at verse 14. Paul, by the
Holy Spirit, already knew what they were going to say. What
shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? Is it unrighteous for God to
hate somebody? Is it unrighteous for God to
not give salvation to somebody? What does the Bible say here?
God forbid. That means there is no unrighteousness
in God. Why? Verse 15, for He said to
Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will
have compassion on whom I will have compassion. By the way,
Do you notice the grammatical construction of that word there?
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy? Sounds a lot like
I am that I am. I will be who I will be. I will do what I will do. For it saith to Moses, I will
have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom compassion. Paul is saying here is the argument. You're saying it's unrighteous
for God to save some and not others. In the context of this
right here, God is saying, or the people are saying, it's unfair
that God is saving some Jews out of Israel and not the other
Jews out of Israel. That's not fair because we're
all Israelites. Now, today we're saying, well,
that's not fair because we're all God's children. We're all
God's creation. God loves everybody. So it's
not fair that He would save some and not others. And just like
here, Paul is saying, not all that are of physical Israel are
spiritual Israel. Paul is saying to us, not all
are the children of God by creation or the children of God by promise.
The children of God by creation were His children by creation
in the fact that God has created every one of us but we are not
children of Him by relation as it pertains to the Spirit. He
is saving everybody in the world, but not head for head, and not
because of anything they have done. He is saving those whom
He has compassion upon, those whom He has given mercy to. And
so that says God, because He is God, and because He is sovereign,
He can have mercy on who He wants to have mercy. Now let me ask
you just a question here, and I know this is a philosophical
question, and philosophical question or philosophy doesn't prove that
something is necessarily true. The Bible proves that it's true.
But let me ask you something, because I do believe the Bible
proves this, not only actually, but philosophically. If this
right here is Paul's argument to those who are questioning
God's righteousness for saving some and not others. And he says,
I will have compassion. He quotes back in the Old Testament
what God said to Moses in regards to Pharaoh. He says, I will have
mercy on whom I will have mercy. Paul is using that as the argument
for those who think God is unrighteous. What does that mean? If God will
have mercy on whom He will have mercy, does that not preclude
the fact that God has shown mercy to some and not to others? And
is not God answering that question by saying, I have the right to
give mercy and to not give mercy? To give compassion and not give
compassion, and it does nothing to my righteousness. That's why
God put it here. That's why God quoted it in the
Old Testament. That's why Paul brought it up
in the New Testament. Because there's one writer of
the Bible, and that's the Holy Spirit. And He spans from all
66 books. Verse 17, For the Scriptures
saith unto Pharaoh, 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. Pharaoh was one of
the ones that God hated and rejected. And God raised him up. Remember
we read the verse that Brother Larry brought up? That he has
made all things for himself, yea, the wicked, even for the
day of evil. He raised Pharaoh up for what
purpose? To show his power in Pharaoh.
So that God could show his power in Pharaoh. And so he made and
hardened Pharaoh's heart so Pharaoh would deny God, deny anything
that God said, reject what God had commanded him, and do evil
against his people, And Pharaoh did it. And what did God do?
God killed him in the Red Sea. Swallowed him up in the Red Sea.
Killed him. Pharaoh's whole entire life, from a baby until the time
that he died in that Red Sea, God's purpose was to raise Pharaoh
up and to bring him to a place of power. And in that place of
power, then to humble him before God and to show that nobody is
above God. And God caused him to hate his
people. God caused him to not let the
people go because he hardened his heart so he would say no
every time. Then God brought calamity upon him ten times and
then after all those ten plagues, God then destroyed his son, then
destroyed him. Is there any unrighteousness
in God? No. And God says, because I can show
mercy and compassion on whom I want to show mercy and compassion.
So there again, brother, the Bible has now revealed to us
something about God that now in our minds we have to have
that category. That God does as He wills and
sometimes what God does in His will is not merciful and kind
and compassionate or a sign or show of love. And He is who He
is. And do you worship God for who
He is or who you make Him out to be? Are you worshiping God? Because listen, I've had friends
and loved ones tell me directly, if that's the God of the Bible,
I would never, or if that's your God, I would never serve that
God. In their own minds, this God
is a God distinct from the ones that they worship. We're not
worshiping the same God. We're not holding hands and going
to ecumenical services and everybody singing kumbaya because we're
all just God's children and all under God's love and we all love
God. No, there is a difference between
that and this. That is a false God. No matter
how much it kind of looks like God, it is a false God. God. This is the true God who
has revealed Himself as one who has the right to love one, hate
the other, have compassion on one and not the other, to show
mercy to one and not the other. And we cannot say that God is
unrighteous or unfair. Why? Look at verse 19. Read along with me,
brethren, I truly want you to see these are the words of God
and not the words of mine. Thou wilt then say to me, then
why does he find fault? Who has resisted his will? So
there's the third question that comes up when you preach this.
And listen, it's the question that comes up to everybody that
I talk to about this, whether it's a friend or a family member,
anybody that believes the way I used to preach and believe.
Whenever you bring this up, They'll say, well, whenever you come
before God, because God's predestinated you for this purpose, then when
you come before God, you can say, it's not my fault. You made
me this way. Why are you sending me to hell?
You made me for this. You made me this way. What does Paul say here? Thou wilt
say then unto me, why doth he yet find fault? For who is resisted
his will? See, Paul already, by the Holy
Spirit, had been given insight into our human, fleshly, Adamic
mind, well, then, if God made me this way, He didn't love me,
He didn't show me mercy, He didn't show me compassion, He didn't
show grace to me, then I have no fault. God, you can't send
me to hell. You have to be righteous. See,
again, we're pointing the finger at God's righteousness. You can't
be righteous in sending me because this was your plan. It wasn't
my plan, it was your plan. What does the Bible say now?
Nay, but O man, who art thou that replyest against God? Who
are you to come before me and to bring accusation against me
about being unrighteous? Who are you to come and say that
what I am doing is wrong? who had been my counselor. What
did he tell Joe? Where were you whenever I raised
up these mountains? Where were you whenever I brought
all this thing into existence? Where were you whenever I done
all these great and marvelous things that nobody can do? Where
were you at? Well, if you weren't there, then
you have no right to come and tell me what I can and can't
do. Because there's only one person
who can tell me what I can and can't do, and that's myself.
Because I am that I am. He says, Name it, O man, who
art thou that replyest against God? Shall the thing formed,
and we're all formed, right? We were formed by God. We're
His creation. Shall the thing formed say to
him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Why did you
make me this way, God? Hath not the potter power over
the clay? of the same lump to make one
vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor. Doesn't God have
the right, and the answer is yes, by the way, doesn't God
have the right to take that one lump of clay, you've all probably
seen potters on TV or whatever, somewhere, YouTube, take a lump
of clay and smash it down on a deal, pull a piece off and
work it and make it into a cup and put it down. Then he'll grab that lump again,
pull a piece off, put it on the potter's wheel, and make a bowl. Then he gets that lump of clay
and he brings it over here and fashions and forms it and makes
a plate. Now who was it that told that
potter to make a cup, a bowl, and a plate? Nobody. Why? Because it's my potting
wheel, it's my clay, it's my intuitive mind that wants to
make something, and I desire to make a cup, a bowl, and a
plate. And I'm going to make this one
a cup. Boom! What's the purpose of it?
Is it to put food on and eat on? The cup? What's the cup made
for? To drink out of, right? What's
the plate for? Eating. Eating on. Okay. So can the plate say, well, how
come you didn't make me a cup? The cup? You're, it's not fair. You get to hold water. I just
have to hold food. No, the plate don't say, why
did you not make me the cup and the cup don't say, why did you
not make me the plate? Why? Because the cup is made for the
purpose that it was made for and the plate was made for the
purpose it was made for. That's why God has given us this
metaphor, this illustration. Shall the thing formed say to
the one that formed it, why did you make me a cup and not a plate? Hath not the potter power over
the clay of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor and
one to dishonor? Now, let's stop there again.
Philosophically, but still actually. Philosophically, if God has made
one for honor and one for dishonor, does that not preclude that God
has determined in His sovereign will that there be two groups
of people? One that would be for honor and
others who was made specifically for the purpose of what? dishonor. Yea, the Lord hath
created all things, even the wicked, for the day of evil. Yea, he hath made all things,
even the one vessel unto honor, and the other unto dishonor. Judas was one who the Lord had
called to be a disciple. But that didn't mean he was saved.
He was called to be a disciple because before the foundation
of the world, God had purposed for him to be the vessel in which
Christ would be betrayed into the hands of the religious leaders
and be crucified. And the Bible says that he fulfilled
the purpose for whence God made him. He was a reprobate from
the beginning. He was a reprobate from the foundation
of the world because God did not write his name in the Lamb's
Book of Life. Because God did not love him.
Because God had chosen him as the wicked to create him for
the purpose of wickedness that would eventually be to the demise
and the slaying of Jesus Christ. Because it was God's purpose
that Christ died for his elect people. What if God, look at
verse 22, what if God willing to show His wrath and to make
His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels
of wrath, fitted to destruction? Now look at that, brethren. These
vessels of dishonor are called vessels of wrath. That means
He created them to be a vessel of wrath. Vessels that hate God. The Bible says that all of us
at one time walked according to the prince of this world,
according to the dictates of our own flesh. And this fleshly
man, guess what? He is a child of wrath, just
like they are. We are wrathful towards God.
We hate God. They said, what if God willing
to make known the moment of suffering and the vessels of wrath fitted
to destruction? God has fitted them for destruction. I know some people say that they
fit themselves to destruction, but that's not what it says here.
Because the very context is God has the right to make the plate
the plate and the cup the cup. God has the right to make one
of honor and one of dishonor, then why would He turn around
and say, oh, by the way, you're a vessel that has fitted yourself. That goes against what God just
said in the first few verses before that. And that He might
make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy. So there's vessels of wrath.
There are vessels of mercy. Which He had, by the way, aforeprepared
unto glory. The vessels of glory He chose
before the... Brethren, this is consistent
throughout all the Scripture. It isn't me just cherry-picking
verses out of here. This is consistent. Have you
not? I pray. the Lord has given you ears to
hear, and I pray that He has given me a tongue to speak truth
today, that all through what I've said, have you not seen
the consistency of what God has been saying? That God has chosen
a people, He has loved a people, He has delivered mercy and compassion
and choice upon certain people, and it's shown all over here,
and even here to this, right here before the foundation of
the world. God says that I have prepared these before the foundation
of the world. Now, let me ask you something.
The vessels, what does it say here? The vessels of mercy which
He had prepared unto glory, aforeprepared unto glory. Our bodies didn't
exist in eternity past, right? Our bodies didn't come into existence
until Adam was made. And then through Adam, every
one of us have received our fleshly body, the Adamic man, the Esau
and the Ishmael man, Every one of us have received that man
in time. But it says here, these vessels
were vessels that was aforeprepared in glory. Who is it that was
aforeprepared in glory? Well, it was the children of
the seed. The ones who were put into Christ and were made children
of Him. That which is the seed that is
in us. in this fleshly body, but that which was born from
above, which is a new creation, born from above, not from the
earth, that was the vessel before prepared unto glory." Now I may
be corrected on that. Someone can correct me, but that's
the way that I see that. And it may possibly be talking
about our bodies that were waiting for us. That is made like unto
Christ. But it says here, Even us whom
He hath called..." And here it is again, brethren. We talked
a little bit about this last week. How we know that God makes
a distinction whenever He says the whole world, whenever He's being preached
to Jews. He says, "...for even us whom He hath called, not of
the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles." Brethren, the purpose of God
according to election is the outworking of God's love towards
us. If God did not elect us, then
we were not loved because the ones that He loves, He elected
unto salvation. Jacob have I loved, Esau I have
hated. If you want to preach about God's
love, include all of it. God showed His love by choosing
us. and not rejecting us. God shows
His love in that Christ died for us, and that death is efficacious. That death has its intended purpose
carried out. But yet, what we hear so often
is a gospel of an offer, of an invitation, of a desire on God's
heart, but not an accomplishment by an actual Savior. made salvation
possible, but Christ didn't actually save anybody by His own work. It was by His work plus their
faith, their repentance, whatever. Brethren, Paul has made it clear that this purpose of God according
to election stands And it stands as the cornerstone, Christ being
the manifestation of that cornerstone. Because we read, didn't we sing
this morning about Christ being the first elect? Christ is the
first elect and we are the children of the elect. We are elect because
He is elect. And because He is elect and we
are in Him, we are elect. So brethren, Christ is the first
elect, brethren. And because He is elect, we are
elect, and if we are elect, then we are loved. Because God loved
Christ. Christ said that in John 17,
because, you know, you have loved me, and I have loved them. Now they love you, just like
I love you. Why? Because God's love has been
shed abroad in their heart. We love Him because He first
loved us. But had not God elected us, there
would be no love because we would still be workers of iniquity.
And God hates the workers of iniquity. The only ones He doesn't
hate are the ones who He has not beheld iniquity in or seen
perverseness in. And those are the spiritual seed
of Christ. Well, how do you get to be the
spiritual seed of Christ? Not by anything good or bad that
you've ever done, but because God chose you. according to the
purpose of His will, to show forth His love. That's the gospel,
brother. That is the gospel. All right, does anybody have
any questions? Any comments? Correct or rebuke? I'm sure that
there'll be tons of comments in the comments section. We'll
be interested in watching them. I try to get to those, but I
guess I can't. All right. If there's no questions
or comments, let's bow and have a word of prayer. Father, I thank you this morning
for the Word of God, and I thank you for the Spirit of God. I
thank you for the children of God. More than anything, we thank
you, Father, for the salvation of God, Christ Jesus. to whom, through whom, and for
whom all things are. He was in the beginning when
all things were created, and by Him all things were created.
Not anything was created that He has not created. By Him all
things consist and are held together. By Him all things will be judged.
And by Him all of His people have been saved. Father, we rejoice
in that It eats against the very nature
of our carnal man to say that God can love some and not others,
that God can save some and not others. But Father, You have
given us Your Spirit that we might know what has been freely
given to us. And a love that has been given
that was not deserved. And Father, we know that we,
by grace and grace alone, have been given this gift of salvation
and we are humbled for you this morning. We do not boast upon
anything in our own works, in our own worth. We don't even boast in the fact
that we've been given grace because we know that we are like all
the others as pertaining to the flesh, deserving of God's wrath,
and haters of God, and religious zealots at the very best. Father,
we just thank You for the work of grace that You have done.
Lord, I do pray for all of these that are in this house today,
that they have been part of those who You have written in Your
Book of Life, those for whom You have set Your love upon,
for whom Christ died upon that cross, whenever His hands and
feet were nailed to that tree, and those lashes were made upon
His back and that crown of thorns shoved down upon His head. The
very moment that He'd give up the ghost and He died, the first
time that He'd ever experienced separation. Lord, I pray that
You just might continually place upon our minds and hearts what
Christ has gone through on our behalf, that we might be saved. And I pray, Lord, that You might
give the gift of faith, life and faith, to each one that is
here today. Just as Paul said, I have a desire
in my heart for my kindred according to the flesh that God might grant
them repentance and faith. Father, that they might come
to know the truth of who You are and Your salvation. Lord, we know that that can only
come by Your merciful hand. I cannot pray them into heaven.
I cannot beg them into heaven. I cannot instruct them into heaven.
Father, they only will come if you show them mercy and grace.
We pray for our brothers and our sisters and our loved ones,
our friends, our family. Lord, we bow the knee because
we know that you are the potter and we are the clay. That you
have every right to show compassion upon whom you desire to show
compassion. And we cannot accuse you of being
unjust or unrighteous. May you help us May this gospel
be shared through all the world, that all your children might
be comforted. May this gospel be shared in
the hearts of every child of grace by your Spirit, that they
might rejoice.