Romans 9.21, hath not the potter
power over the clay of the same lump to make one vessel unto
honor and another unto dishonor. Paul in the preceding verse has
just referred to us as the thing formed and to God as the one
who formed us. And here he carries out that
premise. This is Paul's answer to man's
reply against God, man's objection to God's sovereignty. And what
Paul is saying here in effect is that anyone who would object
to the truth of God's sovereignty, and by sovereignty we mean what
Paul did, simply that God does as he pleases. Most specifically
here in the text, he has mercy on whom he pleases. Everybody
will confess and readily admit that God is sovereign in creation,
because we weren't even here when he created this earth. We
know we didn't have a hand in that. Even the infidel knows
that. And many will admit to God's
providence being sovereign, that he does as he pleases in this
world as long as He doesn't infringe upon my free will or my rights
as a human being, such as I imagine them to be. They will not bow
to his sovereignty and salvation. But nevertheless, God said, I'll
have mercy on whom I'll have mercy. He's sovereign. And Paul
makes this analogy here of the potter and the clay to illustrate
this. And he does so from scripture.
And we'll see that in a moment. Paul teaches here that anyone
who objects or replies against this truth, against God in his
sovereign mercy, is starting from the wrong premise. You're
assuming that you're on some level of equality with God, or
that God owes you something, that you have some rights before
God. And really you're assuming that
you're superior to God in so much that he must conform to
your sense of fairness. You object, that's not fair for
God to do that. How can he hold me accountable
when everything is according to his will? So you're assuming
superiority to God that he must respond to and honor your willing.
As Paul said, it is not of him that willeth. That's the reason
Paul said that is because that's what we think. That's what man
thinks, don't they? They name their churches that way, that
salvation is by the will of man. Paul said, no, God doesn't honor
or regard your will, your willingness in any way whatsoever. And you
assume that God must acknowledge and reward your running. That
is your striving. You're doing your works. But he said, it's not of him
that runneth, it's of God that showeth mercy. And so Paul here
sets the record straight. Who are you to question God's right, his power? He has
power over the clay. That word power always means
two things in regard to God. Not only his ability, he can
do what he wants to because he's God. And you can't stay his hand
or even question him, but also his right to do it, his authority. He's able and it's right for
him to do it. Who are you to question that,
to question him? He's the potter and you're the
clay. Turn to Jeremiah chapter 18.
This is the passage of scripture that Paul refers to this and
one other. Jeremiah chapter 18 and verse
1, the word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord saying, arise and
go down to the potter's house. When God would teach his Old
Testament prophets, you notice how often he puts them through
an experience. He doesn't just tell him about
a potter and some clay. He said, you go down to the potter's
house. That's what he did with Hosea,
wasn't it? He didn't just talk about his love. He said, you
go and marry a harlot. Fall in love with a harlot and
marry her. That's what he's doing here.
He's putting Jeremiah through this experience. He's sending
him down to the potter's house. And that's what he does with
us now. It's through words. It's through his word. It's through
preaching, but the Lord will, make you to experience His grace.
He'll cause you to go down to the potter's house spiritually
and not just hear and acknowledge words. The words are the beginning,
no question. We have to be taught. But the
Lord will put it in your heart. He'll take you there. He'll take
you there. Go down to the potter's house
and there I will cause thee to hear my words. You see, He's
going to be speaking. He always does. He's not going
to save you apart from His gospel. Please God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. But you're going to
have to go down to the potter's house and not just agree with
some words in your head. Go down to the potter's house
and see that what God said is true. Know it. Believe it. Experience his grit. Then I went down to the potter's
house, verse three, and behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
Now this is the work of salvation. It's what Paul's talking about
in Romans 9. There ain't no question about that, is there? He's talking
about God having mercy on sinners. He's talking about salvation.
He's talking about God loving one and hating another. He's
talking about life. Well, what did you see when you
went down there? I saw God doing a work. Salvations of the Lord. This is a work of God. You're
putty in His hands. He wrought a work on the wheels,
and the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of
the potter. So he made it again, another
vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make it. He has power over the clay. Then the word of the Lord came
to me, saying, now, we're down at the potter's house, we can
hear what he said now, can't we? You see, he does a hard work. Then the word of the Lord came
to me, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter,
saith the Lord now. Not saith your equal or some
peer of yours, saith the Lord, can I do what I want to with
you? As the clay is in the potter's
hand, so are ye. in mine hand, O house of Israel. I don't need to tell any of you
here this morning, but I will anyway, that man's religion has
all this backwards. They have God waiting on the
sinner, God trying and wanting to do things if the sinner will
only let him. And this is what it all boils
down to. We see this all through the word of God, don't we? This
is what it boils down to. There are two religions in the
world. One where man is God, and the other one where God is
God. The one where man is saved by
willing and doing, and the one where man is saved by God's free
mercy. They're just the two. False religion goes under many
names, but it's the religion of man, man, man. The mark of
the beast is the number of a man in it. And his number is 666-MAN-MAN-MAN. If you ever go down to the potter's
house like God commanded Jeremiah to do in your heart now, God
will cause you to experience this in your heart. And you'll
never speak again of God as trying or wanting to do anything. Nor
ever will you speak again as man capable of anything. distinguishing himself in any
way in the eyes of God. Pastor Maurice Montgomery wrote
once, and I have to paraphrase because I couldn't find the article,
but it's one of the best I've ever read, and I'm determined
to find it. And I'll put it in our bulletin when I do. Again,
I believe I've done it before. But he said, in effect, I believe,
argue if you will about God's sovereignty and man's responsibility,
but count me out. He said, exclude me from your
endless debating and your incessant arguing about what God can and
cannot do. I've been to the potter's house. When you've been there, there's
nothing left to debate. Who are you that replies against
God? Do not rebel, my friends, against
your creator. Don't question what he says or
what he does, but bow. If the Lord will have mercy upon
whom he will have mercy, then God give me grace to cry for
mercy. I saw in the same year two people
die. A rebel against God and one of
God's sheep. And as the one died, he said,
oh, I pray the Lord will give me grace to die in such a way
that it would honor him. And I heard the other one day
after day after day screaming for help. And there was no help. Do not rebel against your maker. Do not shake your fist in God's
face. Here's the proper response to
this truth. Turn to Isaiah 64. Isaiah chapter
64 in verse 6. But we are all as an unclean
thing, and all our righteousnesses, all of our running, all of our
striving, all of our doing, all of our willing, is nothing but
filthy rags in God's sight. disgusting and vile. And we all do fade as a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. And
here's the thing, too, now, verse 7, and there's none that calleth
upon thy name. We don't even want out of it.
We don't even want out of the condition we're in until He comes. that stirreth up himself to take
hold of thee. You're not going to stir yourself.
That's what religion is trying to do. Get men to stir themselves
up, you know, to do something. You got nothing to stir. You're dead in trespasses and
sins. You can't stir anything. There's
none that does that. We know that. To take hold of
God. thou hast hid thy face from us
and has consumed us because of our iniquities. But now, O Lord,
you're our father. We are the clay, and thou our
potter, and we all are the work of thy hand. In other words,
Lord, if you will, you can. You have power over the clay. And though we're steeped in iniquity,
shaped in iniquity, drink iniquity like water and have no desire
to do otherwise, in your hands, you can make us
beautiful. You can make us like your son.
You and I are shut up to the mercy of God. Whether we resist
or submit, he has mercy upon whom he will. Do you need mercy
this morning? Do you need mercy? God's plenteous in mercy and
he delights to show it. The woman of Canaan who came
to the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 15, She needed mercy and our
Lord confronted her with the truth of sovereign electing grace. Turn there to Matthew 15 and
let's look at it. A few minutes this morning to
look at this verse 21. Then Jesus went thence and departed
into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon and behold a woman of Canaan.
came out of the same coast and cried unto him saying, have mercy
on me. That's what we're talking about
this morning. Mercy. Paul said he has mercy on whom
he will. And this woman came and said,
Lord, have mercy on me. You can have mercy on whoever
you want to have mercy on. Have mercy on me. Oh, Lord, thou son of David,
my daughter is grievously vexed with the devil. But he answered
her, not a word. And his disciples came and besought
him, saying, Send her away, for she crieth after us. But he answered
and said, I am not sent, but unto the lost sheep of the house
of Israel." Now you think about, he talking about now, he and
his disciples were only going to the Israelites. He told them when he sent them
out, he said, you don't go to the places where the Gentiles
are, you go where the Jews were the Israelites, preached to the
House of Israel at first. Later, he said, you go into all
the world and preach. But this is spiritual language
here. He said, I'm sent to the lost sheep of the House of Israel,
spiritual Israel. That's the truth. He gonna save
his elect. He gonna save his sheep. He laid
down his life for his sheep. Then came she and worshiped him,
saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, it's not meat, it's not proper,
it's not right to take the children's bread and to cast it to dogs. She said, truth, Lord. Truth,
that's the truth. If God leaves me as I am, withholds
his mercy from me, and puts me in hell where I belong. He'd
be right to do that. Can you acknowledge that this
morning? She did. She said, That's true. That's
true, Lord. Yet the dogs eat of the crumbs
which fall from don't miss that word there. I'm a dog, but I'm your dog.
I'm your dog. from their master's table. Then Jesus answered and said
unto her, O woman, great is thy faith, be it unto thee even as
thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole
from that very hour, confronted with the truth of his sovereignty
and his right to do with his own what he will, his right to
have mercy upon whom he will, and withhold mercy from whom
he will." She said, Lord, that's just the truth. But I'm your
dog and I need mercy. May God give us grace to submit,
to bow and to ask, because he does delight to show mercy. Let's bow in prayer.