Well, if you will turn with me
to Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 16, I'll do as good as I can
to preach what he just sang. My subject is sovereign mercy.
It is set before us clearly here in Hebrews chapter 2, verse 16. For verily, he took not on him
the nature of angels, But it took on him the seed of Abraham. When our Lord Jesus came into
this world to save fallen creatures, he passed by the fallen angels. Passed them by. Left them in
chains of darkness. No hope, no mercy, no grace. They were forever damned. He
passed them by. He took not on him the seed of
angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham. He did not take
hold of the seed of Adam, but he took hold of the seed of Abraham,
of God's elect, and delivered the seed of Abraham from the
bondage of death by the irresistible power of his blood and his grace. We were lost, rushing headlong
into hell, madly running from God, madly opposed to God, madly
defiant of God, and he snatched us as brains from the burning
by the hand of his omnipotent mercy and his sovereign grace. He passed by the fallen angels,
and he passed by the sons of Adam, but he took hold on the
seed of Abraham. God, our Savior, reserves the
right of absolute sovereignty unto himself. God, our Savior,
reserves the right of absolute sovereignty unto himself. sovereignty in creation, sovereignty
in providence, sovereignty over all the affairs of men and all
the thoughts of men and all the deeds of men, good and evil,
absolute sovereignty, and above all else, God our Savior reserves
to himself the right of absolute sovereignty in the exercise of
his saving grace and mercy. That means just this, he will
save you or damn you according to his will and it is altogether
up to him. Now hear me, hear me well, you
and I, have no claim on God. You and I have no claim on God's
mercy. Our sons and daughters have no
claim on God, no claim on God's mercy. But my daddy was a preacher. That don't amount to a hill of
beans. That'll just make your torments in hell more severe. But my mama was such a godly
woman, she prayed with me all the time. That doesn't amount
to a hill of beans as far as you're concerned. That'll just
make your torments forever all the more excruciating. Your relationship
with another human being doesn't give you a foot up toward God.
God has mercy on whom he will have mercy. I recognize that
in this religious day of religious tomfoolery, nonsense, and blasphemy,
and that's what goes on in most churches most of the time. No,
that's what goes on in most churches all the time. Just religious
tomfoolery and blasphemy. Nothing about God's glory, nothing
about God's grace, nothing about God's word, just religious tomfoolery
and blasphemy. But you can read through this
book and you will discover that you're confronted on every page
with this assertion of God's sovereignty. Today we hear much
talk about the fundamentals of the faith. And yet those who
boast of being uncompromising fundamentalists seldom ever mention
the gospel doctrine of divine sovereignty. When they do mention
it, It is only to denounce it and poke fun at those of us who
believe what God reveals in his word. Now, let men, if they dare,
deny it. Let them ridicule it. Let them
rebel against it as they will. Let them poke fun as they will.
Let them hold us up to ridicule as they may. God's indisputable
sovereignty is a fundamental tenet a fundamental doctrine,
a fundamental revelation of Holy Scripture, a vital point of true
Christianity, a vital point of true Christian doctrine. Now,
if you doubt the prevalence and importance of this doctrine of
God's sovereignty in exercising his saving mercy, love, and grace,
I challenge you, begin at Genesis chapter 1, and read this book
again, go right through the book of Revelation, and you will find
it difficult to find a page in this book where it's not demonstrated.
It is taught, it is declared, it is illustrated, it is revealed
throughout the Word of God. God has mercy on whom he will
have mercy, and whom he will, he hearteneth. God has mercy
on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will, he hardens. That
means God gives life to whom he will, and God hardens in death
whom he will. That means God passes by whom
he will, and God stops to save whom he will. This is what he
says. He saith to Moses, I will have
mercy on whom I will have mercy. and I will have compassion on
whom I will have compassion. So then, it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. But preacher, that's not fair.
If you don't like it, take it up with God. That's the way it
is. Men talk about man's will. There's
so much yak about man's will. The one thing this book specifically
says about your will in connection with salvation is this, it is
not of him that willeth. Salvation is not by your will,
it's by God's will. Salvation is not by your work,
it's by God's work. Salvation is not something that
you take from God. It's something God bestows upon
whom he will. The illustrations of God's sovereignty
in the exercise of his grace and mercy are as numerous as
the characters spoken of in this book. Let me remind you of a
few. Satan led a revolt in heaven. He said, God, you got no right
to be God. I'll be God instead. And he managed
to persuade one third of the heavenly host to follow him in
his rebellion. And when he did, the Lord God
cast them into damnation and reserved them in chains of darkness. He didn't give them any mercy.
He didn't give them any grace. He didn't show them any love.
He didn't provide them any savior. He gave them no hope. They were
immediately shut up under everlasting damnation. Adam then did exactly
the same thing. Adam said, God, you've got no
right to be God. I'll be God. And he plunged our
race into sin and death. He shoved his fist in God's face
and said, step aside, I'll take over. And God Almighty reserved
from Adam's fallen race, a multitude to himself, to whom he determined
to be merciful and gracious, and promised the fallen pair,
Adam and Eve, that he would send into this world one who is the
woman's seed, who would undo what Satan had done. He would
crush the serpent's head and bring redemption and deliverance
to the chosen sons of Adam. Well, how do you explain that?
How do you explain God showing no mercy to fallen angels and
showing mercy to fallen men? How can you say that? How can
that be explained? Only one answer can be given.
He hath mercy on whom he will have mercy. And he has compassion
on whom he will have compassion. That's exactly right. This according
to his will, as it seems good in his sight. Now you can either
rebel against this message of God's sovereignty, or you can
perish in your rebellion. You can either rebel and perish
in your rebellion, or you can bow to God's sovereign throne
and say with Christ, even so, Father, for so it seemed good
in thy sight. And I promise you, you will never
obtain mercy until you are forced by God to acknowledge that you
have no right to mercy. It won't happen. It won't happen.
Whether you bow to God's throne or rebel against it, the fact
remains the same. The God of this book, the God
who identifies himself in this book, the God of the Bible is
an absolute sovereign. He can save you. or he condemn
you, that's his right. It is entirely up to him. As
God chose some angels and left those who lost their first estate
in chains of darkness, and the Lord God chose some of Adam's
fallen sons and passed by others, there are some spoken of in the
book to whom God is gracious. And you have example after example
given. Adam had two sons. Two sons named
specifically. He had more, but he had two that
are named. Cain and Abel. God passed by Cain, the older,
and he saved Abel, his brother. Abraham, Abraham, had two sons,
Ishmael and Isaac. God commanded Abraham to cast
Ishmael out, saying he shall not be heir with the freeborn
son, and God chose Isaac. Isaac had two sons, Jacob and
Esau. The Lord God said before they
were born, Jacob the younger have I loved, Esau the older
of the twins have I hated, according as he purposed and for no other
reason. In the days of Noah, the Lord
God destroyed the whole world. The whole world. Now, there's
a measure of speculation on my part here. This is my judgment. If you disagree, that's all right.
We won't fall out over it. My suspicions are that the world
in Noah's day was just as fully populated as it is today. That's my suspicions. And God killed them all except
for eight souls. Because they all walked in the
imaginations of their own hearts, doing evil only continually. But not those other eight souls.
Yes, them too. Them too. But Noah found grace
in the eyes of the Lord. And God saved Noah who built
an ark for the saving of his family, for the saving of God's
elect in Noah's loins. He has mercy on whom he will
have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. Well, Brother Dunn, surely everybody's not wrong. Let me tell you something. This
will come as a shocker to most folks. Everybody's always wrong. If everybody believes contrary
to this, it can't be right. Everybody's always believed contrary
to this. God's people in this world have always been in their
generation an elect remnant, a small flock, never the majority
and never shall be the majority, not in any generation on this
earth. We live because of God's mercy. and we know Christ because of
God's mercy, and we believe because of God's mercy, and we continue
to believe only because of God's mercy. We read about a man named
Pharaoh. I don't suppose there is a king
of an empire in human history who is better known worldwide
than Pharaoh. There were lots of pharaohs.
There were lots of them. There's a reason for that. They
all represent paganism and idolatry. And no need to distinguish one
from the other. And God says concerning this man, Pharaoh,
who had the Egyptians and who had the Israelites bondmen in
Egypt. God says concerning this man,
Pharaoh, this Pharaoh who knew not Joseph. It's Pharaoh who
didn't have a clue who Joseph was, let alone who that one is
Joseph was typical of, our Lord Jesus. God says concerning him,
for this purpose have I raised thee up. Pharaoh, oh boy, I caused
you to be born in the richest household in the world. I raised
you up in the richest, most powerful palace in the world. I set you
on the throne of the most powerful kingdom in the world. I made
you the mightiest, wealthiest man in the world for one reason,
just one reason, to dump your carcass in the Red Sea. so that
you and the world may know that I'm God and I have mercy on whom
I will have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I will
have compassion. That's the only reason for your
existence. Sounds to me like God's sovereign.
And it sounds to me like God means for us to understand that
he's sovereign. Now you may think, well, that's in the old Bible.
People talk like that old Bible and new Bible. This is not the
old Bible and the new Bible. This is one Bible. It's revealed
in the Old Testament, the Old Covenant and the New Testament,
the New Covenant, but it's one Bible. And God's the same in
the Old Testament as he is in the New. There's no difference.
God hasn't changed. He doesn't change. He reveals
to us his sovereignty and explains it even more fully in the New
Testament than he did in the old. When our Lord Jesus passed
by gathering his disciples, he called Simon and Andrew, and
the father didn't know what was going on. He called James and
John, but left Zebedee alone. He came among folks who were
sick, and he picked out one fellow, said, would you be made whole?
and left the others just as sick as they were when he got there.
He called some and he passed by others. Some who sought him,
like the woman with the issue of blood, were saved by him.
And there were some who sought him, like the rich young ruler
who went away never knowing him. He died for some and not for
others. He said I laid down my life for
the sheep and then he turned around and pointed to some specific
men and said you are not of my sheep He could not have said
more clearly. I died for my sheep and not for
you who are not my sheep he prayed for some and refused to pray
for others He didn't forget to pray for them. He refused to
pray for them. He said, I pray not for the world. I pray for these thou hast given
me out of the world. He's gracious to some and not
to others. As it was when he walked on this
earth, so it is now. He prays for some. There for
me, my surety stands. holding forth his wounded hands. Jesus, the Savior, prays for
some and not for others. He's gracious to some and not
to others. He comes to some and passes by
others. He sends his gospel to some and
not to others. Read the book of God. Paul wanted
to go here preaching. God, the Holy Spirit said, no,
not there. And then he wants to go to a place and the Spirit
of God says no, and he sends him later. Because at the time
he wanted to go was not the time for the calling of God's elect.
And when he sent him, it's the time for the calling of God's
elect. God has mercy on whom he will
have mercy. Now, let's look at some scripture.
Turn to Matthew chapter 11. We're going to look at a good
bit of scripture tonight. Matthew chapter 11. And let the
word of God do its own preaching. Verse 20. This is the Lord Jesus Christ
speaking. Then began he to abrade the cities
where in most of his mighty works were done. Now, what's this?
Because they repented not. They saw him heal folks. They
saw him cast out devils. They heard him preach. They saw
him perform miracles. But they repented not. He says,
verse 21, woe unto thee Corazon well under thee Bethsaida now
watch this For if the mighty works which were done in you
had been done in Tyre inside If that those folks that entire
inside had seen and heard what you see in here, they would have
repented But God withheld from them what you have seen and heard
They were repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. I But I
say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon
at the day of judgment than for you, for you sinned against greater
light. That's what he said. Verse 23.
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 unto this day. But I say unto you, now listen,
that it should be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the
day of judgment than for you. What? What? The Sodomites who
perished in Sodom, when God rained fire and brimstone on that city,
for their hearted ungodliness shall not suffer like folks in
Denver, Kentucky, who perish under the sound of the gospel,
but despise the gospel they hear, for they sin against greater
light. Read on. Read on. Verse 23. Verse 25 rather
at that time Jesus answered and said Oh God, why did you do this? Jesus answered said but God that's
not fair No, he answered and said I thank thee Oh father Lord
of heaven and earth Because thou hast hid these things from the
wise and prudent and has revealed them unto babes. Aren't you glad? Aren't you glad? I was preaching
one time in Charleston, West Virginia, years ago. I was just
a kid. I was 21, 22 years old, preaching Bible conference with
Brother Bob McNeil, pastor. And a fellow got up in front
of me right before I preached, and he said, now, talking about
Calvinism, for whatever that's worth. And he said, to be a Calvinist,
you've got to have some gray matter. And he talked about having
to study and all the books he had read, and Owen, and Goodwin,
and all these fellows, and just bragged on his braininess. And
I had about all I could take. And finally, it came time for
me to speak. And I said, the first thing you
need to understand is to believe the gospel. You don't have to
have any gray matter. You've just got to be a sinner. Just a sinner, God passes by
smart elects and smart folks. And by and large, he finds among,
finds his elect among the poor, downtrodden, despised, who know
themselves ignorant, especially with regard to spiritual things.
You've hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and you
revealed them to babes. And if he takes one, who is by
nature, by the gift of God, wise and prudent and smarter than
another and reveals the gospel to him, before he does that,
Bill, he makes you a babe and makes you understand you're as
dumb as a mule with regard to all things spiritual. Makes you
understand you have no apprehension, no ability. You've revealed them
to babes. How come? Even so, Father, for
so it seemed good in thy sight. All things, the Savior goes on,
are delivered unto me of my Father. And no man knoweth the Son, but
the Father. Neither knoweth any man the Father,
save the Son. And he to whomsoever the Son
will reveal him. Let's look at John chapter 12.
John the 12th chapter, verse 36. While you had the light, believe
in the light, that you may be children of the light. These
things spake Jesus and departed and did hide himself from them.
He still does that. He still hides himself from some,
reveals himself to others. But though he had done many miracles
before them, yet they believed not on him, that the saying of
Isaiah, the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake. Lord,
who hath believed our report? And to whom hath the arm of the
Lord been revealed? Isaiah asks a question, and then
he answers it with a question. Who hath believed our report? Who's sitting here? Who sitting
here tonight believes the report of the gospel? Who sitting here
in this room this hour going to walk out those doors believing
the report you've heard. I'll tell you exactly. To whom
hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? They to whom God makes himself
known believe the report. Read on. Verse 39, therefore, therefore,
you know the connection. Therefore, what's it there for?
Isaiah just got through, our Lord just got through quoting
Isaiah, said, who's believed our report? Those to whom the
arms of the Lord have been revealed. Therefore, therefore, they, these
folks sitting in front of him, therefore, they could not believe. Because Isaiah said again, he
hath blinded their eyes and hardened their heart. that they should
not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart,
and be converted, and I should heal them. These things said
Isaiah when he saw his glory and spake of him. Isaiah saw his glory saw Christ
sitting on the throne saw Christ having accomplished redemption
Having all power in his hands and he spoke of him in his glory
Saying he has mercy on whom we will have mercy and whom he will
he hardened us Romans chapter 11 Romans the 11th chapter Romans chapter 8 speaks of God's
infinite sovereignty and providence, his purpose of grace, his providence.
Romans 9, it speaks of God's sovereignty, having mercy on
vessels of mercy and reserving vessels of wrath unto destruction.
His sovereignty and the exercise of his love, saying, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. I'd like somebody to find out
something for me. Make some telephone calls and
find out how many times in the last 30 years any preacher in
Boyle County has preached on Romans chapter 9. Just pick up
the phone and call them. Just ask them. And be sure to
get the sermon. I want to hear it. Ignore it. Folks, I don't like
that. Where's my pocket knife? I'll
just cut that out. God's given us his word for a reason, to
make himself known. Look what he says about his sovereignty
here in Romans 11, verse five. Even so then, even so then, this
is what I've been leading up to, Paul says, since the beginning
of Romans chapter eight. Even so then, at this present
time also, there is a remnant according to the election of
grace. And if by grace, then it's no more of works. Otherwise,
grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it's
no more grace. Otherwise, work is no more work.
Verse 7. What then? What's all that about?
Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for. What? Righteousness? They stumble over
the stumbling stone, trying to go about establishing their own
righteousness, not submitting themselves to the righteousness
of God in Christ. Israel hath not obtained that
which he seeketh after. But the election hath obtained
it. But what about those other folks? What does the Word of
God say? You got it right in front of
you. The rest were blinded. The rest were blinded. According
as it is written, God had given them the spirit of slumber, eyes
that they should not see and ears that they should not hear
until this day. And David saith, Let their table
be made a snare and a trap and a stumbling block and a recompense
unto them. 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? God forbid, it wasn't
just God casting them off. He has another purpose. But rather,
through their fall, salvation has come to the Gentiles. God blinded that little nation
that he might send the light into all the world by the preaching
of the gospel, now light's come to you. for to provoke them to
jealousy. Verse 32. For God hath concluded
them all, all Abraham's physical seed, in unbelief, that he might
have mercy upon all, that is, upon all Abraham's spiritual
seed scattered through all the earth. How do you respond to
that? 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 it shall be recompensed to him again. For
of him and through him and to him are all things, to whom be
glory forever. Amen. The God of glory, is absolutely
sovereign in salvation, absolutely sovereign in the exercise of
his mercy. A preacher, what should I do? Fall down at his throne and cry
unto him like the leper, Lord, if you will, you can make me
whole. If you will, you can make me
whole. I tried, I can't. The schools
have tried, they didn't help. Mom and Daddy tried, they couldn't
do anything. Laws tried, it wouldn't work.
Oh, God, if you will, you can make me whole. It's all together
up to you. He wounds and he heals. He kills
and he makes alive. It's his sovereign right to do
either, either to save me or to damn me. So pass me not, O
gentle Savior. Hear my humble cry, while on
others thou art calling, do not pass me by. This is vital. This is vital. You've got two choices. You can
either bow to God the sovereign or you can go to hell. You can either bow to God the
sovereign or you can go to hell. No options. No options. God Almighty
saves sinners who bow before his throne, acknowledging the
crown rights of Jesus Christ as Lord and King. Everybody else
is damned forever. If a man hates the truth of God's
sovereignty, I'll never be backward about stirring up his wrath.
Good bit of experience. Men rail at me for preaching
this message, as I do. And the surest way to get me
to deal with it is tell me I shouldn't. They denounce me as a hard shell,
an antinomian, as a hyper-Calvinist, mean, divisive, all those things. I don't care. I'm happy for their
anger. If men are offended by God's
character, I'm glad to offend them. I'm glad to offend them. Look at Isaiah 45. Let's read
again what God says about himself. This is God's description of
God. This is not Don's description of God. This is not the Puritan's
description of God. This is not a reformed description
of God. This is not a Calvinistic description
of God. This is God's description of
God. Isaiah 45 verse 10. I am the Lord. There is none
else. There is no God beside me. I girded thee, though thou hast
not known me. That is, I strengthened you,
sustained you, upheld you, when you didn't have a clue who I
was. You ran in your rebellion, hating God, cursing God, defying
God, blaspheming God, and God says, I held you up. I get it. Yeah, so you didn't
know me That they may know from the rising of the Sun and from
the West that is everybody in the world will know That there
is none beside me. I Am the Lord there's none else. I Form the light and create darkness. I Make peace and create evil
Now notice the context in when he says when twitchy says that
he says I'm the Lord I Nobody else is I'm God and Anybody who
is not as I hear described myself to be is not God. I don't care
who says he is I form the light and I Create darkness. I make peace and I create evil. I the Lord do all these things.
I Verse 8, drop down ye heavens from above. Let the skies pour
down righteousness. Let the earth open and let them
bring forth salvation. Let righteousness spring up together.
What? This is what God says when I
make peace in great evil. When I form the light in great
darkness, I'm saying to the earth, open up and bring forth salvation. Revelation 12, Satan's persecuting
the woman, and the earth opens up to help the woman. What's
going on? What's going on? God says to
the world, when he makes light and creates darkness, when he
makes peace and creates evil, open up and bring forth salvation. Open up and bring forth righteousness,
verse 9. People say, well, I don't like
that. This is what God says to you. Woe unto him that striveth
with his maker, that the pot should strive with the pot shoulds
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 sayeth to his father, what begettest thou? Or to the Roman, what hast thou
brought forth? Verse 20. This same God, assemble
yourselves, he says, and come drawn near together, ye that
are escaped to the nations. They had no knowledge that set
up the world of their graven image. Now listen to how he describes
them. This is, by the way, Brother
Lance Heller made it just fine over to his dad. I forgot to
send the answer back to him. This is not talking about folks
down in New Guinea. It's talking about them and other folks. This
is not talking about folks in the Ivory Coast or in Madagascar. This is not talking about folks
over in India or over in Pakistan or over in Iraq or some other
place. No, no, no, no, no. It's talking
about them and other folks. They set up the world of their
graven image. They whittled out in their minds. They carve out from the trees
of their dark, depraved minds an image and say, this is God. We'll call him Jesus. This is
God. We'll call him Jehovah. This
is God. We'll call him the Holy Spirit.
This is God. We'll say this is his word. And
they pray, look what it says, unto a God that cannot save. They pray like they mean it.
They pray just as if they were serious. They cry crocodile tears
and pray. They have revival meetings and
pray. They have camp meetings and pray. They speak in tongues
and pray. They jump up and down and pray
to a God that can't do a frazzling thing unless you help him. Such
a God ain't worth spit. Useless. Useless. Read on. Tell ye, verse 21, 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 other God but
me. No God beside me. A just God
and the Savior. There's none beside me. Well,
what do you do with this God? Look unto me. and be you saved
all the ends of the earth. For I have sworn by myself the
word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness and shall not
return that unto me every knee shall bow and every tongue shall
swear. Sooner or later Either in mercy or in judgment, either
in salvation or in damnation, everybody on God's earth is going
to acknowledge that I'm God. This is our Savior speaking.
Verse 24, Surely shall one say, In the Lord have I righteousness
and strength. Even to him shall all men come,
and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. That means, David, you're going
to come and I'm going to come. Your children are going to come,
mine are going to come. Your grandchildren are going to come,
mine are going to come. Either in shame confessing their sin
and seeking his mercy, or in shame confessing his justice
and crying before his throne of judgment. But to me, everybody's
coming. And to me, everybody shall bow.
Read on. Read on. In the Lord. in the Lord shall
all the seed of Israel be justified. How come? Because Christ took
not hold, took not on him the seed of angels, but it took hold
on the seed of Abraham. God's elect, His covenant people,
those given to Him before the world began. In the Lord, in
the Lord Jesus Christ, shall all the seed of Israel be justified
and shall glory. This is the message of God's
book. He says, I gave Egypt for thy
ransom, Ethiopia and Saba for thee. Since thou was precious
in my sight, thou has been honorable, and I have loved thee. Therefore,
will I give men for thee and people for thy life. And it goes
on and says repeatedly, ye shall be my witnesses. I am the Lord. Beside me there is none else.
I am God. Beside me there is none else. This is God our Savior. Absolutely sovereign in the exercise
of His saving mercy. If you would have it, bow down. Bow down. Bow down. Bow before
His throne and seek His mercy. Fall at His feet. and seek His
grace. He has mercy on whom He will. Amen.