Why are some people saved and
others lost? Why are some taken to heaven
and others cast into hell? Why was Adam allowed to fall
in the garden and plunge our race into spiritual death and
sin into a state of wrath and condemnation? Could God not have prevented
the fall? Could he not have kept Adam from sinning in the garden?
Why was the sin-atoning blood of the Lord Jesus Christ shed
only for some? Why is the atonement limited
to God's elect? Why do some reap the benefits
of Christ's work and not others? Why? Do some have the gospel
preached to them? And others live and die never
hearing the gospel of God's free grace in Christ Jesus. Why is
the gospel made effectual to some who hear it? And others
hear the very same gospel in the exact same circumstances
and are unmoved by it. These questions baffle multitudes. and confuse multitudes. There are questions that men
have argued about throughout history. Many have endeavored
to answer the questions, to settle the problems in their minds by
ascribing to man a power he doesn't have, and by taking from God
the power that he does have. We are told in this religious
age of idolatry when men still worship frogs and flies and such
things as that and call it worshiping God. I meant to say what I said. There's no difference between
the religion of this age and the religion of the Egyptians
in Egypt in Joseph's day. Many would tell us that God wants
everybody to be saved. and that he's done everything
he can to save all men. But you must understand, God
has given man a free will, and he loves man too much to violate
his will. To any rational human being who
was unaffected by religion, that would seem utterly absurd. In
the state of Kentucky, If a father has a three-year-old son and
he says to his son, son, fasten your seatbelt. And the boy says,
no, I don't want to. And they're driving down the
road a little ways and have an accident and the child is killed in the
accident. That father can be charged with
manslaughter and sent to prison. Should he attempt to argue, I
love my boy too much to make him do what he didn't want to
do. Everyone in the courtroom would look upon him with disgust
and say, what kind of love is that? It's beyond ridiculous. It is blasphemous to suggest
that men and women go to hell because God just loves them too
much to make them do what they don't want to do. Men are not
lost because there's any lack of power in God to save the people
he loves. Men are not lost because the
blood of Christ is not sufficient to redeem the people for whom
he died. Men are not lost because God
the Holy Ghost doesn't have power in grace enough to be effectual
in his operations of grace and overcome the wills of those he
calls. Why then? Do some go to hell
while others are taken to glory? Why do some perish when others
are saved? There are many answers given
in the scriptures, but there is one specific answer that is
given with crystal clear statements that cannot be misunderstood
in Romans chapter nine, verses 22, 23, and 24. In the ninth chapter of Romans,
the Apostle Paul is vindicating the character of God. He's vindicating
the character of God against the charges of men who would
declare that God is not just, that God's ways are not right,
that God's work is not equal. He's telling us the justice and
the wrath of God upon the unbelieving and the sovereignty of His grace
upon His elect are a clear display of the very character of the
Almighty. Romans 9 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. There are vessels of wrath endured
by God in this world in patience and longsuffering who are fitted
for destruction by their own ungodliness, rebellion, and unbelief,
and that he might make known the riches of his glory on the
vessels of mercy which he had aforeprepared unto glory. There are vessels of mercy, vessels
of mercy, in which God Almighty is pleased to show forth His
glory, the glory of all His being, vessels of mercy who must be
saved, who are by God or were by God aforeprepared unto glory. Now let me hasten to say this
lest I should neglect it later on because it's important. Before
these vessels of mercy were ever created, they were aforeprepared
to glory. The vessels of wrath, on the
other hand, are people who fit themselves for destruction in
time. Who are these vessels of mercy?
Verse 24, even us whom he hath called Not of the Jews only,
but also of the Gentiles. Vessels of wrath and vessels
of mercy. That's the title of my message
this morning. Now here are four indisputable facts which Paul
gives us in Romans chapter 9 by divine inspiration. In verses
11, 12, and 13, he tells us that God's eternal purpose of grace
in election must and shall stand. It cannot and will not be altered. God loved Jacob and hated Esau. These two men, Jacob and Esau,
represent every one of us. These two men, Jacob and Esau,
represent every person in the world. We are all either Jacob's
loved of God or Esau's hated of God. There's no in between
gram. Jacob never becomes Esau and
Esau never becomes Jacob. Jacob have I loved, but Esau
have I hated. And then in verses 15 through
18, The apostle tells us that God's absolute sovereignty in
the exercise of his mercy and grace are evident. Salvation
is not, contrary to universal religious opinion, salvation
is not something you do. Salvation is not something God
helps you to do. Salvation is not something you
and God do together. Salvation is not something to
which you must contribute something. Salvation is not in any way,
to any degree, at any point, determined by your will or accomplished
by your works. Not at all. It is not of him
that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth
mercy. He has mercy on whom he will
have mercy, and whom he will, he hardeneth. Salvation is a
matter of God's sovereign choice and God's sovereign work, and
he gives account of it to no one. And then third, in verse
21, the apostle tells us that it's right for God to either
save us or damn us. according to his own sovereign
will. He's the potter, you're the clay. Now let that sink in good. He's
the potter, you're the clay. The clay is molded by the potter's
hand. according to the potter's will,
not by its own hand, not by its own will. God's the creator. We're the creature. God's the
owner. We're his property. God can do
with you and me exactly what he will. Salvation is his to
give or to withhold as he will. Faith is his to give or his to
withhold as he will. Life is his to give or to withhold
as he will. In the end, fourthly, the apostle
tells us in verses 22 through 24, our text this morning, Some men and women will be saved
and others will be damned. Why? The language of Holy Scripture
cannot possibly be misunderstood. What if God, willing to show
his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much long-suffering
the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction? and that he might
make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy,
which he had aforeprepared unto glory. Even us, oh, wondrous
grace. Even us, whom he hath called,
not of the Jews only, but of the Gentiles. The vessels of
wrath shall be damned, because by their own evil deeds, rebellion
and unbelief, they are fitted for destruction. They go to hell
because they deserve it. And the vessels of mercy shall
be saved because God, by his grace, has prepared them for
glory. Now let's Look at these two, three verses
carefully, and I want to just make a few statements. You can
jot them down as we go along. I believe them to be vital, vital
statements. First, let's look at verse 22.
Here, Paul raises a question in answer to man's charge that
God saves some and not all according to his sovereign will, then God
must be unjust. In this verse, Paul shows us
that those who are the objects of God's wrath justly deserve
God's wrath. And this is the first thing he
shows us. God is willing to show his wrath. God is willing to show his wrath.
God is willing to show his wrath. but God has no pleasure in the
death of him that dieth. No, he doesn't. That means God's
justice, God's wrath can never be satisfied, propitiated by
men going to hell, but don't ever get the idea that God is
not willing to show his wrath. God, the God of glory, is a God
of wrath, justice, and truth. just as God is love, and so a
God of love, mercy, and grace. God is just, and so he is a God
of justice, wrath, and truth. David says, thou hatest all workers
of iniquity. God's wrath is not like the wrath
of man. Man's wrath is a fickle passion. God's wrath is the calm, settled
determination of the Almighty to punish and forever destroy
all his enemies because it's right. Because he's just, because
he's true. Now here are three things plainly
revealed about God's wrath. The wrath of God is revealed
against all sin. Listen to Romans one. The wrath
of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness
of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness. Now just push
it down, just push it down. They know the truth. You can't
possibly escape it. It's stamped on your heart, on
your mind, on your conscience by God's creation, but you say,
no, I will not bow to God. Some of you, I'm sure saw the...
the various protests and all the ungodly behavior on the streets
of this country and others, yesterday and the day before, protesting. Idiots don't even know what they're
protesting. Just protesting about something to be protesting. And
once you get angry, because you're not allowed to murder your baby.
Oh, that's not right. And they get angry, and they
show fierce anger, suppressing the truth in unrighteousness. For which thing say the wrath
of God cometh on the children of disobedience? Second, we're
told that God's wrath is constant. God is angry with the wicked
every day. God's angry with the wicked every
day. His wrath is obviously revealed
and his wrath is constant. And third, Hear me and be warned. God's wrath is intolerable. Intolerable. Who knows the power
of thy wrath? Who can stand before his indignation? And who can abide the fierceness
of his anger? His fury is poured out like fire. Few people, few people understand
that God is willing to show his wrath because they refuse to
observe what God has said and God has done. He's already showed
his wrath many times. We read in the scripture that
there was one third of the heavenly host who followed Satan in revolt
against the throne of God. And God immediately cast them
into hell, reserved in chains of darkness under everlasting
destruction, with no pity. with no mediator, with no offer
of redemption, grace, or salvation. They were cast into hell because
God hates ungodliness. God is just and God is righteous. In the days of Noah, We still
have a kind of mental block about things. We still have the idea
that you're taught from before you ever get into kindergarten
that, you know, man, he started out as just some kind of a... finite tiny little Amoeba and
exploded in something big over processing billions of years
But the first time he started walking around he he was you
know He walked around kind of humped back and looked like an
ape and had a club in his hand and he lived in caves and all
this stuff and so we had the idea when you read about Florida's
got to be just a fairytale didn't affect many people You read this
book in the days of Noah. The earth was covered with people
covered with people just like it is today. Just like it is
today. But Noah alone found grace in
the eyes of the Lord. God sent his word to Noah alone. Noah was shut up in the ark and
all the rest of the world perished in the flood except for Noah
and his family for whom the ark was made. God will punish the
ungodly. Why did he do that? Because he
saw that the imagination of man's heart was only evil and that
continually. Josh, Noah's heart was just as
evil continually as everybody else. But Noah found grace in
the eyes of the Lord. All the vessels of wrath fitted
themselves for destruction and were destroyed. the vessels of
mercy were prepared by God for salvation and saved. Surely,
surely the smoldering ruins of Sodom and Gomorrah should be
enough to convince everybody that God is willing to show his
wrath. What destroyed the twin cities
of Sodom and Gomorrah? What destroyed them? Well, their
sin destroyed them. That's true. That's the just
cause of their destruction. But Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed
because God rained fire from heaven. And he swept away every
man, woman, and child in those wicked cities. Every one of them
perished. God delivered just lot, but all
the sodomites, all who lived in Gomorrah right down to a grass
in the ground was burned to a crisp and annihilated by God Almighty
in wrath. The exhibition of God's just
and holy wrath could never be more clearly displayed than in
the sacrifice of his own dear son. Jesus Christ is God in the
flesh. The son of God's love, who did
no sin, had no sin, and never could sin. The object of his
father's delight from everlasting. But when the holy God found sin
on his son. He cried awake, O sword against
the shepherd, against the man who is my fellow. Smite and slay
the shepherd, because God is willing to show his wrath. You
understand that? God's willing to show his wrath. And he will in the last day consume
the wicked with the brightness of his coming. Second, God is
willing to make his power known. It is God's will to make all
men see what he told Abraham, I am almighty God. David said, the Lord reigneth.
He is clothed with majesty. The Lord is clothed with strength.
The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters,
yea, than the mighty waves of the sea. Jeremiah said, O Lord
God, behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great
power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard
for thee. And then the Lord himself said
by his prophet Jeremiah, behold, I am the Lord, the God of all
flesh. Is anything too hard for me?
We see God's power displayed just like we do his wrath. In
the creation of the world, he spoke and it was done. He commanded
and all things stood fast in his providential rule of the
world. God doeth according to his will. Governing all things,
all the time, exactly as he will. In ruling and governing, restraining
and bridling the wickedness of men and of devils, the Lord God
shows his mighty power. Surely the wrath of man shall
praise thee, and the remainder of wrath wilt thou restrain.
And in the conversion of sinners by his grace, oh, how God shows
the greatness of his power. Conversion is accomplished, not
by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord. We're
saved by the wisdom of God and the power of God. I fully agree
with what McShane said in commenting on this. He said, I believe the
converting of a soul is something greater than the making of a
world. The converting of a soul is something
greater than the making of a world. But Romans 9.22. declares that
God is willing to show his power in the destruction and eternal
ruin of your soul. If by your rebellion
and unbelief you persist to despise him. Some of us were talking at lunch
the other day about old movies. Some of you folks are old enough
to remember Old Yeller. I was just a boy when that thing first
came out. I can remember it pretty well to this day. And we had
a place in Winston-Salem called the Winston Theater, another
one called Carolina Theater. Both of them took up one city
block each. When Old Yeller came out, first
time I went to see it, I got in line. It was a double line,
all the way around the block. I got done watching it, went
back and got in line again. Watched it twice. Great movie,
great movie. Can't say that about many, that
was a great movie. But that boy's old yellow dog got rabies. And he had to kill it. Now that's
a tearjerker. That's a tearjerker. He had to
kill it. The dog had to be put down. He
had to kill it. How come? Because you can't do
anything with a mad dog but kill it. You leave it running around,
everybody's in jeopardy. Everything's in jeopardy. And
God is willing to show his power in executing his justice upon
every mad dog sinner who persist in rebellion and unbelief. This
is what God says. I will tread them in mine anger
and trample them in my fury and their blood shall be sprinkled
upon my garments and I will stain all my raiment. You shall be
utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord that judgeth.
Number three, Paul shows us that God is patient and long-suffering. Notice the language Paul uses.
God's willing to show his wrath, he's willing to make his power
known, but only after he has endured with much long-suffering. the vessels of wrath fitted to
destruction. Lindsay has been for a good while
now talking to us about God's judgment upon Pharaoh and the
Egyptians. God was long suffering and patient with Pharaoh. He
gave that man every possible benefit of life in this world. He fed him and clothed him royally. He was the king of the most powerful
nation in the world. The richest man walking on the
earth was Pharaoh. The Lord God sent a prophet to
him by the name of Moses. My, what a privilege. God spoke
repeatedly to Pharaoh by the mouth of his prophet Moses. and
warned him, and warned him, and warned him, and warned him by
wonders performed before him, as well as by the word of his
prophet. 10 times, God performed wonder after wonder in Egypt. But Pharaoh said, I won't hear
God. And he hardened his heart and
refused to repent. Who can charge God with unrighteousness
in destroying that man? Who dares do so? And none of
you can deny this fact. Nobody hearing my voice this
hour can deny this fact. God has been patient and long
suffering with you. He supports you in life. feeds
you and clothes you, maintains you in health while you live
and rebel into Him. Some of you have been preserved
by what would almost appear to be miracles in life. preserved from perilous circumstances,
perilous events. And you get a little excited,
a little emotional time, but it washes off quickly, kind of
like Pharaoh's repentance. God's providentially bestowed
upon you all the good things of life. You live, and I live,
in the most prosperous, most well-advanced and the best societies
of any country in the world. Now, we get upset and we gripe
and grumble, but I promise you, it won't take you but just one
trip outside this country to any other place. When you get
off the plane, you'll want to get down and kiss the ground.
Nobody lives like we do. You live with food in your belly,
clothes on your back, a comfortable house. You live with a little
money in your pocket all the time. God has been so very patient
and long suffering. Not only that, you live under
the sound of the gospel of God's free grace. How many times has God spoken
to you by his word? How many times have you come
here and heard this man or others declare the gospel of God's grace
to you in the power of his spirit? How many times? God's given you
his word when there are multiplied millions in this world who never
see one of these. let alone hear it preached. You
have, all of you have a Bible in your house, probably most
of you have several in your house, but you go from week to week,
never crack them open. If you would, search the scriptures,
you might find Christ there, but you won't, you won't, because
you despise God. despise his word, despise his
son, despise his grace, and thank yourselves right before God. Fourth, Paul tells us that all
that men and women, those men and women fitted to destruction,
these vessels of wrath are fitted to destruction by their own evil
deeds. Fitted to destruction. not by
anything God's done, but by what you do. If you die in your sins
and you're forever cast into hell, it will not be because
of God's decree. It will not be because God would
not save you, but rather because of your own willful, deliberate
unbelief. As you go through the scriptures
and you see the judgment of God fall on men, as you see, you
read scripture, man, that's judgment. Every time you see it, every
time you see it, I suggest you have a pen in your hand and either
write down or underscore these words, because, therefore. Because, therefore. God sent
famine because. God sent pestilence because. They rebelled, therefore. They
sinned, therefore. Well, but preacher, we believe
in divine predestination. I doubt you've ever known anybody
who believes it, and I'm fairly sure you never heard anybody
who preaches divine predestination more consistently, more dogmatically
than the man talking to you. But in this book, in this book,
everywhere in this book, damnation is ascribed to the damned. Everywhere
in the book. God sends folks to hell only
because the wages of sin is death and God gives men that which
is always justly their due. Fitted for destruction, how? Stick your fingers in your ears,
I won't hear God. Fitted for destruction, how?
Ungodliness, rebellion, unbelief. Fitted for destruction, how?
Refusing to bow. Fitted for destruction, how?
Spitting in God's face. Fitted for destruction, how?
Trampling under your foot the blood of Christ. Fitted for destruction,
how? By your ungodliness. Fitted for
destruction. And so when men perish in their
sins, when women perish in their sins, they perish in their sins
justly. So justly. So manifestly justly. So completely
justly that no mother or grandmother, saved by God's grace, will shed
a tear when they see it happen. No father and no grandfather
will wipe his eye when he sees it happen. No son and no daughter
will be in the least disturbed when it comes to pass. We read
it before the service this morning, rather when the smoke torments
of the damned ascends up before God's saints around His throne,
they will sing, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. In Leviticus chapter 10, you
read about Aaron and four of his sons, Nadab and Abihu, and
then his other two sons. Nadab and Abihu went in to the
holy place. And the Lord had told them, when
you come in this place, you bring this fire into my altar. You bring this fire into my holy
place. You bring this fire into my sanctuary. And Nadab and Abihu had some fire. And they, Well,
if the Lord will accept this, this looks good to me. And they
carried their fire, strange fire, into the holy place. When they
did, God struck them dead. How come? Because God requires
that you bring what God performs. God requires you bring what God
gave. God requires you bring the merit
and the righteousness and the worth of Christ's blood with
before him and nothing else. But you want to bring yourself
and your works and your feelings and your experiences and your
knowledge and you bring your strange values that look pretty
good to me and God will send you to hell. Do you remember
what happened when Nadab and Abihu were smitten before the
mercy seat in the holy place in the tabernacle of God? God
sent Moses into Aaron. He said, Aaron, you stay right
here in the tabernacle. You and your son stay right here
in the holy place. And don't even get your handkerchief
out and say, boy, I sure do miss Nadab and Abihu. Don't even express
a sympathetic thought concerning them. God has done rights. Now I tell you, God Almighty
only does rights. If you've despised his goodness
and his forbearance, his patience and his long suffering, and after
the hardness and impenitent heart that's in you treasure up unto
yourself wrath against the day of wrath and the righteous judgment
of God. And your soul is forever damned,
you will be inexcusable. Your damnation will be inexcusable. Pastor, what do you suggest? Seek ye the Lord while he may
be found. Call upon him while he is near. And he gives this promise. I
will pour out on you the sure mercies of David. I will forgive
all your iniquity and transgression and sin. Now here's the fifth
thing. Look at verse 23. Things are different here. Here
God the Holy Ghost tells us why God's elect to save, that he
might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy
which he had aforeprepared unto glory. Here's the fifth thing. God has chosen some of Adam's
fallen race as vessels of mercy. vessels, the vessels of wrath
and the vessels of mercy are made from the same lump of clay,
fallen humanity. But before ever God took up the
clay in His hands, look back at chapter 8, He afore, this never struck me
so greatly as just before I stepped in the pulpit this He afore prepared
them to glory. Romans 8, 29. For whom he did
foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of his son, that he, his son, might be the firstborn among
many brethren. How did he do this? Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he also called. He named us his son. And whom
he called, those whom he named as his own sons and daughters,
them he also justified. And whom he justified, them he
also glorified. Paul tells us elsewhere, he chose
us to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth. Jude tells us that we were from eternity sanctified
in Jesus Christ the Lord. So that the Lord God, before
ever He took the lump of clay in His hands, aforeprepared us
for glory. So that He takes the vessels
of mercy into heavenly glory to show His glory all the glory
of his matchless attributes in the salvation of these vessels
of mercy whom he afore prepared to glory. So that these vessels
of mercy enter into glory as vessels of mercy fit, fit, fit for glory, made fit by God,
being justified by the blood and righteousness of His Son,
being sanctified by His grace, being glorified in His Son, even
before the world began, accepted in the beloved. In time, He comes. and gives his own life eternal
in Christ Jesus, brings to light immortality, causes sinners in
this world, dead in trespasses and in sins to live. To live. There, Life, our life, is the
result of God's work, not something to which we make a contribution.
The dead don't make themselves to live. Only God does that. Ah, but he comes in grace at
the appointed time of love and says to his chosen, live. And
spreads over us his skirt of righteousness, his robe of perfection,
his garments of salvation. He says, live! And I cause them
to be beautiful through my beauty that I put upon them. And those
who are called by his grace, live, live. being made meet to
be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in lights. Number
six, it is God's purpose to show forth and make known the riches
of his glory on the vessels of mercy. Many things can only be truly
seen by contrast. You can't really see the beauty
of a rainbow in the sky except against the dark background of
a dark cloud. But now you take that rainbow,
sun shining on light and against the dark background of a dark
cloud and you say, my, oh, what splendor, what beauty, what magnificence. and you and I cannot see the
glory of God, that is all the display of his wondrous attributes,
except there be both vessels of wrath and vessels of mercy. You've got to have the contrast,
otherwise God's glory is not revealed. We could never know
God's sovereignty. had it not both loved Jacob and
hated Esau. We could never know the marvelous
pardoning grace of our God. Didn't we see those whose sins
are not pardoned? A lot of folks I grew up with
are in hell now. And every last one of them were
better boys and better men than the one talking to you. But I obtained mercy because
God made me before the world was a vessel of mercy. We cannot
know the love of God, but by contrast, only by contrast. You can't really know what love
is unless you've got something opposite of it to compare it
to. No wonder the apostle wrote, the Son of God loved me and gave himself for me. And we see God's great, great,
great justice. The riches of his glory and the
great contrast of his son being made sin for
us. The son of God sin. And when God made His Son
sin, He poured out on His darling
Son all the horrid fury of righteousness, justice, and truth because His
Son fully deserved it. and when he makes us the righteousness
of God in himself. When he takes a sinner and makes
a sinner righteous, he takes him to glory and the sinner stands
before God in glory and reaps all the blessedness
of life eternal. because he fully deserves it. Justice says, bring Don Fortner
in here. Justice says, put a crown on
his head. Justice says, put a robe on his
back. He fully deserves it. My son
lived and died for him. Justice demands it. Paul tells
us that we're prepared as vessels of mercy for glory by the mighty
work of God's grace. This is Paul's argument. If God's
willing to show his wrath on the vessels of wrath who fit
themselves for destruction, whom he endures with much long-suffering
impatience, Who can charge him with injustice or with cruelty? And if God is willing to show
the glory of his great attributes on vessels of mercy by saving
them and bringing them to heaven in a way entirely consistent
with his holiness, justice, and truth. having prepared them for
heaven through the substitutionary work of his son and the mighty
operations of his grace, who can charge him with folly. One
last thing. All who are called of God to
life and faith in Christ are vessels of mercy, prepared by
God for glory. Look at verse 24. even us whom
he hath called." Who are these vessels of mercy?
Us, whom he hath called. Oh, if somehow this day, if somehow
this hour God has opened the windows of heaven and dropped
his grace in your soul, and for the first time in your life,
you find yourself believing on the Son of God. That's because
he called you. Because before the world was,
he made you a vessel of mercy. My brother, my sister, if you
believe on the Son of God, your believing is proof of your calling
and your vessels of mercy whom he had called. Am I called and
can it be? Has my Savior chosen me? Guilty,
wretched as I am. Has he named my worthless name?
Vilest of the vile am I. Dare I raise my hope so high? Am I called? I know I am. For I trust God's Son, the Lamb.
Here I lay me at thy feet, clinging to the mercy seat. Yours I am
and yours alone. Lord, with me your will be done. Thank you, thank you, thank you
for your grace, eternal free grace in Jesus Christ the Lord
on sinners, on this sinner who so fully deserved your wrath. Amen.