The title of my message this
morning is Sovereign Mercy. Sovereign Mercy, that's my subject. And I want to begin by asking
you a question. Has the Lord God ever called
you down into the dust before his throne in sovereign mercy? Anyone and everyone who experiences
the grace of God in salvation is brought down in the dust of
humiliation before God's throne of grace. There's no salvation
apart from that humiliation of your soul before God. If God
saves you by his grace, He will bring you down into the dust
before his throne. Before he exalts, he abases. Before he clothes the sinner
with the garments of salvation, he strips him of all righteousness
of his own filthy rags. And the Lord Jesus came to the
place where Zacchaeus was Zacchaeus didn't come to the place where
Christ was. Christ came to the place where
Zacchaeus was. He stopped and he looked up and
said, Zacchaeus, make haste and come down. Come down. Come down. Come down. That's God's word to men always. Come down. You will never be
brought up to glory. until God calls you down in repentance. The way to salvation is a downward
path. God's call is always a humbling
call. He calls sinners, proud sinners,
into the dust. He causes those who are high
in their own esteem to come down because they are indeed nothing. The Lord God causes men and women
to know and acknowledge and confess their sin. There is no salvation
apart from that confession. If we confess our sin, he's faithful
and just to forgive our sin. Now that confession of sin, does
not mean saying I have sinned. That's not what it is. A confession
of sin is not admitting that you stole cookies from the cookie
jar when you were a little boy. A confession of sin is not admitting
that you robbed a bank. That confession of sin is not
acknowledging that you committed adultery. That confession of
sin is not coming to the front of the church and saying I've
done this thing bad or that thing bad like everybody else has done.
That confession of sin is not going to a confessional booth
and talking to a man in secret and telling him what you've done.
No, no, no, no. Confessing your sin is to open your heart to
God. That black, horrid pit, that
cesspool, stinking, horrid depth of your
being and acknowledge what you are. And until you acknowledge
to God what you are, you will never know his grace. Has the
Lord ever called you down from your proud self-righteousness? your proud self-sufficiency,
your proud high opinion of yourself, and made you to acknowledge yourself
as a loathsome, guilty, helpless, undone, hell-bent, hell-deserving
sinner before Him, until you come down to the throne of God's
mercy. As one needing mercy indeed,
you will never obtain it. or the foolish thing it is for
sinners to be proud, to think themselves high, to think themselves
something when we are nothing but loathsomeness and sin. The trend these days is to call
sinners to come to Jesus, call sinners to trust Christ, call
sinners to come to God, and call sinners to be saved while promoting
their high opinion of themselves. Preachers everywhere tell sinners
to come to Christ, to believe on Christ, to trust Christ, but
they leave them with the idea, with the distinct impression
that really, really, it's all up to you. What a high and mighty
thing you must be. If God waits on you before he
can save you, If Christ's blood is useless until you give it
power by your choice, if God the Holy Spirit cannot save you
except you do something for him, then the proud sinner struts
and thinks, God's in my hands and I can have him anytime I
want him and everything's up to me. Nothing could be further
from the truth. You must come down, but come
down you will not. You must bow, but bow you will
not, except God by the outstretched arm of omnipotent mercy in his
sovereign mercy bring you down. Sovereign mercy, that's my subject. It's set before us throughout
the word of God. It's set before us, not here
and there, but throughout the pages of Holy Scripture, God's
sovereignty in the exercise of his mercy is written like a lightning
bolt. It can't be missed, except God
blind your eyes to it. It cannot otherwise be missed.
Jesus came into this world, we're told in chapter 2 of the book
of Hebrews, that it took not on him the seed of angels, but
it took on him, it took not on him the nature of angels, but
took on him the seed of Abraham. He passed by the fallen angels. The fallen angels, angels who
kept not their first estate, but rebelled with Satan against
the throne of God. They were reserved in chains
of darkness until the day of judgment, no mercy given them,
no hope offered them, no grace proposed to them. They were sealed
in judgment. but it took on him the seed of
Abraham. Not the seed of Adam or the nature
of Adam, but the nature and the seed of Abraham. He came here
for his chosen. He came here to save his chosen
covenant people, all represented in Abraham. We were lost. rushing headlong to destruction
until the Lord Jesus reached down the hand of sovereign mercy
and omnipotent grace and delivered us. We're described in the book
of Zechariah as brands plucked from the burning. That's where
we were. And the Lord snatched us from our own sails. and snatched
us out from under the curse of the law, and snatched us from
the rest of humanity, and made us his own. He passed by the
fallen angels, he passed by the sons of Adam, and he snatched
the seed of Abraham. God our Savior. always reserves
the right of absolute sovereignty, especially in the exercise of
his saving grace and in the application of his mercy. God is sovereign
in creation. God is sovereign in providence. And God is sovereign in grace. What do you mean, pastor? I mean,
God always, absolutely has his way in all creation. Everything
obeys his will. God always, absolutely has his
way in providence. Everything comes to pass according
to his will. And God always, absolutely has
his way in grace. Sinners are saved according to
God's will. Sinners are saved, not according
to their will, not according to the church's will, not according
to the pastor's will, not according to mama's will or daddy's will.
Sinners are saved according to God's own sovereign will. You cannot read through the Bible
without being confronted with this fact. This fact is set forth
in divine revelation on all the pages of Holy Scripture. Now,
we live in this day, folks, talking about the fundamentals of the
faith. And those who boast that they are fundamentalists, they
are fundamentalists. seem somehow always to ignore
the fact of this fundamental revelation of Holy Scripture,
this fundamental basis of Christianity, this fundamental basis of divine
worship. That is God's sovereignty. God's sovereignty. Now, you hear
me and sometimes, use the word sovereign or sovereignty, and
they say, you have to recognize the sovereignty of God. Well,
let me tell you what we mean by that. They use the word sovereignty,
but they talk about God being, having the name, and he has some
power, and he actually did make the heavens and the earth, but
that doesn't mean God's in control of everything. God's sovereignty,
is an indisputable, fundamental, vital revelation of gospel doctrine. If you doubt the prevalence of
it, I suggest you take your Bibles again this year. It's getting
close to the end of the year. And when you start to read through
the scriptures again this year, look for it. It is written on
every page of Holy Scripture. It's not some secret, mystical,
deep thing that's hidden away and you have to study and study
and study and study in order to get it. This is written as
plain as the nose on your face in the Book of God. You'll find
it throughout the Scriptures. God has mercy on whom he will
have mercy, and whom he will, he hardeneth. That's what we
mean by God's sovereignty. God has mercy on whom he will
have mercy, and whom he will, he hearteneth. Now listen to
your pastor. Will you listen to me a minute? If you're saved, you're saved altogether because
of what God does for you, with you, and in you. And it's got nothing to do with
anything else. You understand that? If you're
sitting here today and you believe on the Son of God, you trust
the Lord Jesus Christ. He's washed you in his blood.
He's given you his spirit. He's given you faith in him.
If that's the case, with Don Ranieri and Don Fort, It's because
of what God has done for you, and with you, and in you. You
got that? And I'll tell you what it'll
take for you to go to hell. Nothing. That's what it'll take. Nothing.
For God to just leave you alone. For God to just leave you alone. Oh, I pray God won't leave you
alone. I pray God won't leave you to
yourself. If God leaves you alone, you're
going to hell. Now illustrations of this fact
are given throughout the scriptures. Let me call your attention to
a few. We read in the word of God in Revelation chapter 12
of how the Satan led a revolt against the throne of heaven.
He led a revolt against God being God. And one third of the heavenly
host followed Satan and his revolt. When he did, there was no mercy,
no grace, no forgiveness, no opportunity for them to be reconciled
to God, but they were shut up forever, damned forever. And then Adam was created in
the garden. And do you know what Adam did
in the garden? when he took that forbidden fruit. You know what
Adam did? He did exactly what Satan did. And we in Adam sinned against
God and defied God's right to be God. Man fell in the garden. And when man fell in the garden,
now Satan and those heavenly hosts who followed him were indescribably
higher and greater creatures than we. indescribably mightier,
greater creatures than we. But when they fail, no mercy
is given. When we fail, before God threw
Adam out of the garden, he killed a lamb and took the skins and
put them on Adam and Eve and said, now this is how I'm gonna
save sinners. I'm gonna save sinners by a substitute, by a
sacrifice, by a lamb. the Lamb of God, and I'm gonna
put his righteousness on those sinners whom I saved by his grace,
make them the very righteousness of God. And before he drove them
out of the garden, he said, this is how I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna
send a man, the woman seed. A man who is himself God, and
he's gonna crush the serpent's head, and sinners are gonna be
saved by him. What a wonder. God, in his absolute
sovereign mercy, provides, gives a Redeemer, and promises some
to be redeemed. You can recognize that fact,
or refuse to recognize it, but the fact stands nonetheless.
You can either bow to it or rebel against it, but God has mercy
on whom he will have mercy. And I urge you, learn now to
bow to God and say with the Lord Jesus, even so Father, for so
it seemed good in thy sight. But whether you rebel or whether
you bow, the fact remains the same. God has mercy on whom he
will have mercy. He can save you or he can damn
you, it's up to him. He can save me or he can damn
me, it's up to him. He can save yours or he can damn
yours, it's up to him. He can save mine or he can damn
mine, it's up to him. And whatever he does is right. Whatever he does is right. God
chose some of the angels who lost their first estate and others
are chosen, some angels who lost not their first estate and they
passed by the others. Even so among the fallen sons
of Adam, there are some who are chosen of God to whom he will
be gracious. And there are some he has passed
by from eternity and will pass by in time and will pass by forever
to whom no grace is given. Now, let's see if that's not
plain. Adam had two sons, Cain and Abel. God chose Abel the
younger and rejected Cain the older. Abraham had two sons,
Ishmael and Isaac. God chose Isaac, the child of
promise, the younger. and cast out Ishmael the older
for whom no mercy was given. Isaac had two sons, Esau and
Jacob. God passed by Esau because as
God said, he hated Esau. And he saved Jacob because as
God said, he loved Jacob. In the days of Noah, We tend
to think of Noah's days and we sort of have this idea that Noah
was a primitive man and that he lived in a primitive day and
maybe there might have been as many people on the earth in Noah's
day as there are in Antarctica now. That's hardly the case. Noah lived in an age in which
men lived for hundreds of years. multiplying and replenishing
the earth. And before Noah, before the flood
of Noah's day, this earth was overrun with people. It was overrun
with people. But when God sent the judgment
of the flood, the whole world, Merlehart, was damned. Only Noah and his sons saved
in that ark. Only Noah and his sons. But he
preached for 120 years to those folks. Yeah, but they didn't
pay any attention. They didn't pay any attention. He built an
ark that would house eight souls. That's all. It wasn't built for
anybody else. It was built for those eight
souls and there was enough provision in the ark for those eight souls
and all that they needed. And it was all in the ark just
for them. Noah had this great privilege
because God found grace in the eyes of Noah. Oh no, no, no,
no. because Noah found grace in the
eyes of the Lord. And Noah built the ark and the
door into the ark. God told him how to put it there.
And then God said, Noah, come into the ark. And he brought
Noah and his sons and their wives into the ark and shut them in. And in that ark, all the fury
of God's wrath was poured out on the whole world, including
Noah and his family. But Noah and his family suffered
nothing. All the wrath of God was absorbed
in that ark. That's Christ, our redemption,
our redeemer, and our salvation. Everybody who wanted to go into
the ark could come in. But it was designed just for
Noah, his wife, his sons, and their wives, and nobody else. And all for whom it was designed
were brought in by God. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest and causest to approach unto thee. Everybody who wants
to come to Christ is welcome to come and shall come. Sad fact
is you won't come unless God brings you in by his omnipotent
mercy. We read in the scriptures of
a fellow named Pharaoh. Throughout the Old Testament,
we're given example after example of such men, but Pharaoh stands
as a glaring example of God's sovereignty. The Lord God said
to Pharaoh, I want you to understand something, boy. I want you to
understand something. the reason that I made the nation
of Egypt, and the reason I made Egypt the most powerful nation
in the world, and the reason I gave Egypt all the wealth that
she has, and the reason I made Pharaoh's family the kings in
Egypt, and the reason I put you in the line of the Pharaohs of
Egypt. was because it was my intention
to use Egypt as a house to provide for my people while they grew
and multiplied and I would send them out with all the riches
of Egypt and I'd dump your carcass in the Red Sea in saving my people
and the whole world would know about it. Now I'll tell you something
I've discovered all over the world. I've discovered it everywhere
I've been. I've never been anywhere where
folks didn't know about Pharaoh. Everybody knows about Pharaoh.
Some folks deny it, but they know about it. Some folks try
to poke fun at it, but they know about it. And they are told,
God put Pharaoh in the Red Sea and showed his power in Pharaoh. God said, that's the reason I
raised him up. That's the reason I raised him up. Because he has
mercy on whom he will have mercy and whom he will he hardeneth.
New Testament examples are just as plentiful. Just as plentiful. When our Lord Jesus walked through
this earth and he began to call his disciples, he passed by one
day and called Simon and his brother Andrew, but not their
father. He called James and John, but
not Zebedee. Our Lord Jesus came one day and
there were a bunch of folks laying by the pool and everybody was
waiting there for some magical, mysterious, superstitious moving
of the waters. They thought an angel would come
down from heaven and move the waters and the first fellow to
get in the water would be healed. And so there were lots of folks,
impotent folks laying by that pool. But the scripture tells
us of a certain man. a certain man whom the Lord healed
by his mercy. There were blind men everywhere,
but we read of a certain man, a certain man who was made to
see by the hand of God. Our Lord Jesus passed by multitudes
who were sick, but there were certain folks who were blind
and deaf and lame and dumb, whom he healed by his grace. The fact
is our Lord called some and he passed by others. He saved some
who sought him, like that woman with the issue of blood. And
he didn't save others who sought him, like the rich young ruler.
The Lord Jesus prayed for some and he refused to pray for others.
I'm talking about sovereign mercy. He said, Father, I pray for them,
them which you've given me. They're yours and yours are mine.
He said, I pray not for the world. There are some folks for whom
he prayed and some folks for whom he refused to pray. God's
mercy is sovereign mercy. And this is a shocker to most
people in this religious world. The Lord Jesus died for some
folks and he didn't die for others. This is how he describes his
death, John chapter 11. I am the good shepherd. The good
shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. And he talked about those goats.
And the Pharisees had a pretty good hunch he was talking about
them. They just, they knew when he was talking about the goats,
he was talking about them. They said, we don't like that. He said,
I wasn't talking to you. I was talking about my sheep.
You believe not because you're not of my sheep. Our Lord Jesus
is gracious to some and not to others. He sends the gospel to
some and not the others. He sends his servants to proclaim
the gospel in one place and won't let them go to another place.
He sends the gospel to this town and not to another town. He sends
the gospel to your house and not to your neighbor's house.
He has mercy on whom he will have mercy. The New Testament
plainly, forcibly, emphatically teaches the gospel doctrine of
God's sovereignty in the exercise of His grace. Now let me show
you some scripture. Look at Matthew chapter 11. Matthew
chapter 11. This is so plainly set before
us. Verse 20, Then began he to upbraid
the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because
they repented not. Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe
unto thee, Bethsaida! Now watch what he's saying. For
if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in
Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth
and ashes. If I had done before those folks
in Tyre and Sidon the things you've seen me do, if they had
seen me give light to blind eyes and hearing to deaf ears and
speech to dumb mouths and strength to impotent limbs, if they had
seen me, a man, touch the beer of a coffin and see a man stand
up and walk off, If they had seen me call to Lazarus to come
forth, they would have repented. But I didn't do those things
there. I didn't send those things there. I showed them to you and
you repented not. Look at verse 22. I say unto
you, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day
of judgment than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art
exalted unto heaven, shall be brought down to hell. For if
the mighty works which have been done in thee had been done in
Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto
you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the
day of judgment than for you. Now, how do you respond to that? How do you respond to that? I'll
tell you exactly how that preacher right across the street would
respond to it. I'll tell you exactly how he'd respond to it.
That's not right. That's not right. I'll tell you
exactly how that preacher down the road would respond to it.
That ain't right! I'll tell you how that preacher
down the road would respond to it. That ain't right! I don't care whether
the preacher's a Baptist, a Presbyterian, a Pentecostal, a Holy Roller,
a Muslim, a Methodist, a Catholic, I don't care what he is. That
ain't right! Let's see if it is. Let's see how the Lord Jesus
responds to that act. At that time, Jesus answered
and said, Have you got it in front of you? I thank thee, O
Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things
from the wise and prudent. If our gospel be hid, Paul said,
it's hid to them that believe not, in whom the God of this
world, in whom our heavenly Father, the God of this world, hath blinded
the eyes of them that believe not. I thank Thee, O Father,
Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from
the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes." Well,
now, Brother Dunn, you're going to have to explain that. That's
going to take a lot of study. Okay, here it is. Here's the
explanation. Here's the defense. only one
there is. Skip when you talk to your neighbors,
religious friends, and they want to know, how can you say that?
How can you defend that? Here it is. Even so, Father,
for so it seemed good in thy sight. That's all. That's all. Even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in thy sight. Turn to John chapter 12. John
12. Verse 36. While ye had the light,
believe in the light, that ye may be children of the light.
These things spake Jesus and departed. Now, what's this? and
did hide himself from them. He hid himself from them. But
though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed
not on him, that the saying of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled.
What? He hid himself from them, and
they didn't believe him because Isaiah said they couldn't. Read
this, Isaiah's prophecy must be fulfilled, which he spake,
Lord, who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the
Lord revealed? Who in this auditorium is gonna hear the message I'm
preaching today? Who's gonna believe this report? Who in all
the four corners of the earth, when this message is put on the
internet and aired and the tapes and the videos and the CDs are
sent out, who's gonna hear it? Who's gonna believe? I'll tell
you exactly who. To whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed? from whom He hides it, Jimmy,
won't hear it and won't believe it. Those to whom He reveals
it will hear it and believe it. If you see, He gave you seeing
eyes. If you hear, He gave you hearing
ears. If you believe, He gave you a
believing heart. Read on. Therefore, verse 39,
therefore, therefore, they could not believe. Because that Isaiah
said again, he hath blinded their eyes and hardened their heart
that they should not see with their eyes and understand with
their heart and be converted and I should heal them. These
things said Isaiah. These things said Isaiah. These things said Isaiah. when he saw his glory and spake
of him. When he saw Christ seated on
his throne, having accomplished redemption for his people, having
all power over all flesh, Isaiah said, this is what God's revealed. God has mercy on whom he will
have mercy. And so he acts in all ways in
providence that the election may obtain his mercy. Turn to
Romans chapter 11, Romans chapter 11. Verse five. Even so then at this present
time, there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And
if by grace it is no more of works, otherwise grace is no
more grace. But if it be of works, then it
is no more grace, otherwise work is no more work. What then? Israel
hath not obtained that which he seeketh for, but the election
hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded. According as it
is written, the devil hath given them the spirit of slumber. Is that the way it's written?
You got your Bible in front of you? Is that the way it's written?
God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should
not see, and ears that they should not hear unto this day. And David
saith, that is David speaking as our Lord Jesus Christ, David
saith, the Lord Jesus saith, let their table be made a snare,
and a trap, and a stumbling block, and a recompense unto them. He
said, Lord, they've rejected me, they've despised me, they
would not have me, they would not hear your word, they would
not believe. So you make the table of showbread, and the golden
candlestick, and the holy of holies, and the ark of the covenant,
and the mercy seat, and the temple, and the priesthood, and the prophets,
and the prophecies, make it all a trap, a snare, over which they
shall stumble into hell. let their eyes be darkened that
they may not see, and bow down their back all way. I say then,
have they stumbled that they should fall? Was all this done
just so that God could be mean to the Jews? No, no, no, no,
no, no. God forbid, but rather, rather,
rather, through their fall, salvation came to Danville, Kentucky. Through their fall, God sent
salvation to the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.
Look at verse 32. For God hath concluded them all
in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. He concluded
the whole nation of Israel in unbelief, that he might send
his mercy to his elect scattered among all the nations of the
earth. Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge
of God. How unsearchable are his judgments
and his ways past finding out. For who hath known the mind of
the Lord? Or who hath been his counselor? Or who hath first
given to him? And this shall be recompensed
to him again. You know, I've not really paused
a great deal to consider what verse 35 meant until this week
working on this message. who's first given to God and
then got rewarded for what he gave to God. This is what the
whole religious world tells us. You come give your heart to Jesus
and he'll reward you for it. You make your decision, give
yourself to God and he'll reward you for it. You take the first
step and God will reward you with everything else. Whoever
did never happened for of him and through him and to him are
all things to whom be glory forever. This we must understand. This we must believe. This we
must receive. God Almighty is absolutely sovereign
in the salvation of his people. He wounds and he heals. He kills
and he makes alive. It's his sovereign pleasure to
do as he will. Rebels would be wise. You would
be wise. I would be wise to fall down
at the throne of his sovereign mercy like the leper of old and
cry out to him, Lord, if you will, if you will, if you will,
you can make me whole. Pass me not Oh, gentle Savior,
hear my humble cry, while on others thou art calling, do not
pass me by. I stress this, and I stress it
everywhere I go all the time, because this is vital. This is vital. This is not just
some distinguishing point of doctrine. This is vital. I'm here to lift high the glorious
banner of God's glorious absolute sovereignty. I'm calling poor
worthless sinners in their great pride to bow down to God's sovereign
throne and be reconciled to God. You've got two choices. either
surrender to Christ's dominion or be crushed to hell under Christ's
dominion. There's no other choices. I know
folks denounce me as a hyper-Calvinist, a hard shell, an antinomian,
and things that can't be mentioned here, but I'm happy to make them
angry. That doesn't bother me in the
least. If a man hates the truth of God, I pray that God will
give me grace never to be backward about stirring up his wrath.
If a man's offended by the character of God, I'm delighted to offend
him. I'm delighted to offend him.
I'm far more interested in God's honor than your approval. I'm
far more interested in lifting him high than I am in being lifted
up by you. Listen to the scriptures. Just
turn there, let's look at it again. Give me just a minute,
I won't be long, I promise. Isaiah 45, verse five. Here God describes
himself. Here, God describes himself. I am the Lord. There is none
else. There is no God beside me. Now,
let me tell you what that means. Look up here. All of you look
right here. Who do you see up here? Here's Don Fortner, here he is.
There's just one man standing here. There ain't one over there.
There ain't another one over there. There's not one there.
There's not one there. There is no man beside me. Here I am. I'm the only one there
is, right here, only one. And God is saying to us, here
in Isaiah 45, I am God. Anything that men call God that
is not like this, they are not God. There's no other God beside
me. All right, read on. I girded
thee though thou hast not known me. I'm the one who put clothes
on your back. Verse six, that they may know from the rising
of the sun and from the west that there is none beside me.
I'm the Lord, there is none else. Who is this God? Who is this
God? I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil. I the Lord do all these things.
My God's not like that. He's not God. My God wouldn't
do that. He's not God. Well, you're saying
I'm lost. No, I'm not. You're saying you're
lost. He's not God. Drop down ye heavens from above. Let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth open. Let them
bring forth salvation and let righteousness spring up together.
I the Lord have created it. Woe unto him that striveth with
his maker. Let the potsherds strive with
the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that
fashioneth it, what makest thou? Are thy work? He hath no hands. Woe unto him that saith unto
his father, what begadest thou? Or to the woman, what broughtest
thou forth? Look at verse 20. Assemble yourselves and come
and draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations. They
have no knowledge. They have no knowledge. Oh, hear
me every religious person who hears my voice now. You have
no knowledge. None. No spiritual knowledge,
no knowledge of God, no knowledge of this book, no knowledge of
God's salvation, no knowledge of grace. Who are they that have
no knowledge? Those folks who set up the wood
of their graven image and pray unto a God that cannot save. God can't save you unless you
The Holy Spirit can't save you until you. Jesus can't save you
except you. They pray to a God who cannot
save. Tell ye and bring them near.
Yea, let them take counsel together. Who hath declared this from ancient
time? Who hath told it from that time? Have not I the Lord? And there is no God beside me,
a just God and Savior. There is none beside me. Now,
what do you do with that? Look unto me. Look unto me and
be you saved all the ends of the earth for I am God and there
is none else. All right now, let me wrap this
up. Turn to Romans chapter nine, Romans chapter nine. Here in Romans nine, verses six
through 18, God the Holy Ghost gives us five glaring examples
of this great, glorious God in the exercise of his sovereign
mercy. The examples given are Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Esau,
and Pharaoh. We'll begin in verse six. I've
run with nine, verse six, and I'll just be a couple of minutes
here. First, in verses six through nine, The Apostle was inspired
by God the Holy Ghost to show us God's sovereignty in the exercise
of his mercy in the way he dealt with Ishmael and Isaac. Not as
though the word of God hath taken none effect, for they are not
all Israel which are of Israel. Just before Causophilus says
he's a Christian, Deadman he is. Neither because they are
the seed of Abraham are they all children just because the
fellow says he's a child of God doesn't mean he is But in Isaac
shall thy seed be called. What does that mean? That is
they which are the children of the flesh These are not the children
of God the children of the flesh But the children of promise they're
counting for the seed For this is the word of promise at this
time will I come and Sarah shall have a son." Now we're told in
Galatians chapter 4 that Ishmael and Isaac were given in history
as an allegory of two groups of people. Those who are children
of the flesh and those who are children of the Spirit. Those
who are heirs of the bondwoman and those who are heirs of the
free. Those who are born of the flesh by natural means and those
who are born again by grace, born of promise. Ishmael represents
all people who think vainly that their works have something to
do with salvation. That's who Ishmael represents.
You remember the story. Sarah and Abraham were old folks,
old folks. Older than Don and Shelby. They
were old folks. They were older than Charlotte
and Burl. They were old folks. And God said, Abraham, you're
gonna have a son. That old man, happy as he could
be, he clicked his heel. He went home and said, Sarah,
honey, God said we're gonna have a son. And they kept trying. They kept trying. And there was
nothing in the womb, because it was dead. And Sarah You ladies,
well, I'm not gonna apologize for not being politically correct.
Women are never good theologians. They're never good theologians.
Y'all quit trying to be. That's not God's gift for you.
Sarah had this thing figured out. She said, Abraham, it's
been a while now. We've been trying, you know we
have. But you know God made a promise. And you know God's as good as
his promise. He must have meant for us to do something. That
just stands for sense, doesn't it? That just stands for reason.
You know you gotta do something. That just makes good sense. Everybody
knows you gotta do something. God's gotta have a little help.
So I'll tell you what I believe the Lord had you to do. Tonight,
instead of going to bed with me, Since Hagar belongs to me,
and I'm an old woman and I can't have any babies, you know that.
That's biologically impossible. I'm not gonna have any babies.
But God's promise is sure. So Hagar, she's pretty and she's
young. And since she's mine, I reckon
it'd be all right for us to say she's your wife too. And so why
don't you go to bed with Hagar tonight? Abraham said, well,
that sounds like a good deal to me. That's exactly how it
happened. And they got Ishmael. Oh, weren't
they happy? For about 14 years. For about
14 years. And they found out that Ishmael's
name was Osama bin Laden. That's exactly right. That's
exactly right. They found out Ishmael was a
murderous man. Ishmael was flesh. Ishmael would
destroy everything. That's what works religion always
is. The works of the flesh. Ishmael
went to hell. But Isaac, Isaac was conceived
in Sarah's womb by a miraculous intervention of God Almighty. And if Lindsay Campbell is born
again, he's born again by a miraculous intervention of God Almighty
and nothing attributed to him. That's exactly it. All right,
read on. Romans chapter 9, verse 10. Here the Holy Ghost inspired
the apostle to use Jacob and Esau as examples to teach us
something of God's glory. in exercising his electing love.
And not only this, but when Rebekah also had conceived by one, even
by our father Isaac, for the children being not yet born,
neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of
God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him
that calleth. It was said unto her, the elder
shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. Here are two boys. They're conceived
at the same time, in the same womb, of the same mother, by
the same father, and before they were ever born. Esau was the
elder, for he came out of the womb first. But before they were
ever born, before those boys had had a good thought or a bad
one, before they'd done a good thing or a bad thing, before
they committed any sin or done anything good. God said, the
elder shall serve the younger. And this is the reason, this
is the reason, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. That's
the reason. That's the reason. He takes the
elder and passes him by, leaves him alone, leaves him to himself. And he takes the younger and
puts everything in his hands. You say, well, if that's the
case, how can God judge anybody? Well, God Almighty fixes it. He has fixed it so that sinners
go to hell because of what they do in rebellion to God. Esau
one day came in and he was hungry. He was his daddy's boy. He was
daddy's boy. I mean, he just kind of boy every
daddy like. I just thought about Joshua.
That's daddy's boy there. Just kind of boy about every,
manly, strong, like to hunt, like guns and such things like
daddy's boy, daddy's boy. Jacob was mama's boy. He hung
around the kitchen all the time. And Jacob was fixing some fresh
green beans with bacon, fat, and fat back in them, and some
cornbread, and had it all fixed up. And Esau came in from hunting.
He was starved to death. He said, Jacob, buddy, give me
some beans. And he said, buddy, nothing. I ain't your buddy. He said,
you want some beans? I'll sell them to you. What would
it take? He said, well, I'm starving to
death. I'm gonna die if I don't get some. He said, the birthright? What? He said, I'll tell you
what, I will swap a mess of beans for Christ. That's exactly the deal. Esau
said, Christ doesn't mean beans to me, give me the beans. And
he went to hell for it. He went to hell for it. How come? Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. Because God did nothing for Esau,
he did everything for Jacob. And it is to this day that God
takes the younger, the nothings, the insignificance, those that
nobody would have any pride in, those that nobody would choose
for their own, and makes them to be instruments by which He
brings to nothing all the mighty and the noble, takes such things
as we are, and uses us to bring the gospel of His grace to sinners
around the world, for the glory of His name, that no flesh may
glory in His presence. All right, look at verse 14. Anticipating all the objections
proud sinners have to this great blessed gospel doctrine of God's
goodness, grace, and glory. Anticipating man's objection
to God's sovereign mercy. Paul said, you know, I think,
fellas, I'm sorry. He was running for office, you
know. He said, that was just a gaffe. I didn't really mean to say that.
I didn't mean to put it quite that strong. Oh no, oh no, he
didn't back up. He didn't start the soft pedal,
he stated it more emphatically, more dogmatically, more precisely,
because his purpose is to offend the pride of man and call sinners
down before God's throne. Look at this, verse 14. What
shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will
have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. Now here's the conclusion of
the whole matter. Here's the conclusion of the
whole matter. So then, salvation had got a thing on this earth
to do with what you do. It is not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. For
the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have
I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, that my
name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath
he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will, he hardeneth. Oh my God. Thank you for mercy, for mercy that takes centers
in the grip of your almighty grace and forced me and still forces me. Oh, God,
will you, until this last breath in this body is gone, Force me
to bow before your throne of sovereign mercy. God do that
for you, for Christ's sake, amen.