If you have the Bible with you,
turn with me to the book of Romans chapter 9. The book of Romans chapter 9. The Apostle Paul here starts
out in verse 1 by taking an oath, as it were, before God that it's
true that he had great heaviness and continual sorrow in his heart. For he said, I could wish that
myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen,
according to the flesh. The Apostle Paul was a genuine
believer, Christian. He loved God and he loved the
people of God And he had received mercy. He had obtained mercy. And because he had obtained mercy,
he wanted others to experience what he had experienced. And
I believe that this is true even in our lives. If we've truly
been born of the Spirit of God, if we've tasted and seen that
the Lord is good, then we want others to also taste. Those who
were in the condition or are in the condition that we once
were. We want others to taste and see
that the Lord is good. But now Paul mentions here that
these are his kinsmen according to the flesh. The descendants
of Abraham. The fleshly descendants of Abraham. And he says they're Israelites
in verse 4. He says, To them pertaineth the
adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving
of the law, and the service of God, and the promises, whose
are the fathers, and of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ
came, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen. Then he says in
verse 6, Not as though the word of God had taken none effect.
Paul knows that these Jewish brethren, his kinsmen, according
to the flesh, are in unbelief. He knows they're lost. He knows
they're in a state of judicial blindness. He knows that they're
not in Christ. He knows that and he said, is
it that the word of God has taken none effect? No, he said it's
not as though the word of God had taken none effect. For they're
not all Israel which are of Israel, meaning that they're not all
in the Israel of God which are fleshly descendants of Abraham.
You see there's an Israel of God made up of all born again
believers. made up of all of those who have
received the saving mercies and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Israel of God. But these were not men and women
of faith, therefore they were not in the true Israel. Neither because they are the
seed of Abraham are they all children. Paul says in Galatians,
we're all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. and these did not have faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, but in Isaac shall thy
seed be called, showing us here that Isaac is the child of promise,
and let me read verse eight, that is, they which are the children
of the flesh, these are not the children of God, they're just
simply the fleshly descendants of Abraham, but the children
of the promise. Counted for the seed or the remnant
according to the election of grace Now these are not the children
of God because they're an unbelief Because they stand condemned
before God for the one of faith and love in the Lord Jesus Christ
But the children of the promise are counted for the sea. Now
what that means is, better explained I think in verse 9, for this
is the word of promise, at this time will I come and Sarah shall
have a son." Now this is the word of promise which God gave.
This is the promise which God gave. He said there will come
a time when Sarah will have a son. He had promised Abraham and Sarah
a child. He promised Abraham that he would
have seed. And so Abraham and Sarah expected,
waited, trusted in God and God's word until the time was fulfilled
when God fulfilled the promise and Sarah did indeed have a son. Now there's something that we
must understand here and that is that she could not have had
a son apart from divine intervention. And this is what is being said
here in verse 7 and 8. or verse 8 and 9, is that these
that are the children of the promise, God has intervened. God has crossed their path. God
has moved upon them in sovereign mercy and sovereign grace. And God, according to His promise,
has given a miracle child, and all of those who are saved, all
of those who come into Christ, all of those who are born again,
they're miracle children. They're miracle children just
as much as Isaac was a miracle child. It's a miracle anybody
saved, beloved. It's a miracle of mercy that
anybody knows the Lord Jesus Christ, that anybody has their
sins pardoned and put away. It's a miracle of mercy. Do you look upon yourself as
much as a miracle as Isaac was? Do you? Well, you ought to, because
you are indeed a miracle child if you're a believer. Because
the Lord promised, and Sarah had a son, because He made a
covenant of grace, there are those who are brought to faith
in Christ and are united and adjoined to Christ and are savingly
united to Him for all eternity. And not only this, he says in
verse 10, there's more to it than this. But when Rebecca also
had conceived by one, even by her father Isaac, for the children
were still in her womb, twin boys were still in her womb,
neither having come forth yet, neither having done any good
or evil, no action out of either one of them, that the purpose
of God according to election might stand not of works, but
of him that calleth. Paul said God has a purpose in
election, and he calls those that are of the true seed unto
himself, and he saves them. He brings them into right relationship
with him. It was said unto her, the elder
shall serve the younger. That means that Esau would serve
Jacob. As it is written in verse 13,
Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Now these are strong
words that the Apostle Paul has just presented here, and they're
written down by the Holy Spirit, they're inspired by the Spirit
of God, and they're before us this morning. And then in verse
14 he says, what shall we say then? What are we going to say
then to this? Is there unrighteousness with
God? God forbid! God forbid! Now this is my text this morning,
and I trust that the Spirit of God will give us the liberty
to speak on this verse in particular. Let's pray. Father, we thank
you for your Word, we thank you for your truth, and we do ask
this morning that you be pleased, our Father, to own your message
and to own the truth of your Word, that it may bring forth
fruit And may there be one here today, our Father, whom thou
hast set your affection and sovereign love upon from eternity, and
I pray that they might be brought today to see the justice of God
in saving some sinners and the justice of God in damning others
and passing by others. May it please you, our Father,
to bless today and encourage the believer, and may they take
comfort today, great comfort, from your word. We do ask, our
Father, that your great name will be exalted, and that your
power and name will always, our Father, be lifted up in this
place. We pray it in Jesus' name, and
for his sake, amen. Now in verse 14 here, Paul the
Apostle anticipates a strong objection to the doctrine of
election as he has presented it here in these verses concerning
Jacob and Esau. Now the objection has and it
will come forth. You can be sure of that. As long
as there's a natural man in the world, as long as there are men
and women, boys and girls in the world who do not have the
light of the gospel in their hearts and have no understanding
of the word of God, there will be an objection come forth every
time the doctrine of election is stated. Men will say, God
is unrighteous. God is unfair. It is not fair
that God would, before these boys were born, that he would
say, Jacob have I loved, and Esau have I hated, in order that
his purpose might stand, not of him that works, but of grace. Now then the natural mind would
say this is unfair, this is not right, this is inappropriate,
this is not consistent with the God that I know, the God that
I worship, this is not consistent with Him. It is unfair to call
some and pass by others. Men will argue this point. My
question is this morning, to whom is it unfair? If it be unfair in your mind,
to whom is it unfair? Just think a moment, if you will. Notice verse 4 and 5 again. Paul
said, Who are Israelites, to whom pertaineth the adoption,
and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and
the service of God, and the promises, whose are the fathers, and of
whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all,
God blessed forever. Amen. Now God gave the Israelites
the Shekinah glory. He gave them the covenants. He
gave them the promises, all of the promises of the Old Testament. He gave them the pictures and
the types of the Lord Jesus Christ in prophecy in the Old Testament.
He gave them prophets. The Bible says He got up early
and sent prophets unto the people. He gave them the service of the
tabernacle. And you know the nation Israel
is the only nation on earth that had a tabernacle, the only nation
that had the Ark of the Covenant, the only nation that had the
mercy seat and the Shekinah glory of God. They had the gospel preached
to them, the Bible says in the book of Hebrews, but it was not
mixed with faith in them that heard it. But it was preached
to them in type and symbol in the Old Testament. Hebrews chapter
4 and verse 2 tells us that. It tells us it did not profit
them because of their unbelief. They did not believe what was
being presented to them in the promises and the types and symbols
of the Old Testament. And the Bible teaches this, that
they stoned the very prophets which God sent to them. You remember
the story? It's unfolded in Matthew chapter
23 about how the Lord Jesus talks about how that they stoned the
prophets. And then you remember old Isaiah
the prophet. He was sawed in two as the story
goes. And all of the afflictions of
the prophets, my friend, there are many. And they were afflicted
by these unbelieving Jews. Then the father sent his son
into the world. to this very nation. John chapter
1 in verse 10 through 13, listen to these words, He was in the
world, the Lord Jesus, and the world was made by Him, and the
world knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His
own received Him not. But as many as received him,
to them gave he power, the right, the authority, to become the
sons of God, even to them that believe on his name, which were
born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the
will of man, but of God. Now God's son into the world,
his son, his only begotten son, his beloved son, just as he promised
at the very particular time that he promised and the very place
Bethlehem, he sent him to the family of David as he said he
would. God's promise is not affected
by man's unbelief. God is right on schedule. He
sent his son into the world and they received him not. They scoffed
at him. Then the father bore witness
to the son by sending a forerunner, John the Baptist. And he was
prophesied of in the Old Testament. You know Isaiah talked about
John the Baptist and Malachi spoke of him in chapter 3 in
verse 1. And you know that he was born
of an old man and an old woman, Elizabeth and Zachariah. And you remember that God said
that his name was to be called John. The angel Gabriel spoke
to Zachariah, and Zachariah was slow to believe, so he was struck
dumb until the time when it was said his name will be called
John, even though it wasn't customary in that family for anyone to
be called John. He was a miraculous child also,
John the Baptist, but God sent him as a forerunner to wake up
these Israelites. And God bore witness through
this forerunner because he was a burning, the Bible says, and
a shining light, and he was a prophet of the highest. Then there was
a voice from heaven, you remember, on two occasions saying, this
is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. And then the miracles
that he did. The Pharisees said no man could
do these miracles except God be with him. They testified to
that. But they rejected him, they despised
him, they cast him out, they laughed at him, they spit on
him, and they harassed him. while he died. I'm talking about
these very people that would argue that it's unrighteous for
God to reveal his truth to one individual and pass by others
according to his purpose. Now they looked up and they saw
that sign that the governor had nailed to the cross of our Lord
Jesus that declared in three languages of that day, Hebrew,
Latin, and Greek, This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the
Jews. They looked up and read that.
It meant nothing to them. It meant nothing to that. They
went on in their unbelief and their scorn. They refused Him.
And I ask, to whom is it unfair? I ask to whom is God unrighteous
that he would pass by these people? If God passes them by and leaves
them in their blindness and in their rebellion and unbelief,
to whom is it unfair? How much can you say, beloved,
to a bunch of people like this? How much can you say? How much
can you show them? To whom, I say, is it unfair? In this very day since Christ
has died and rose again and ascended back to glory, we have, I think,
far more revelation than these people ever had. I really believe
that. The promises and the prophecies
of the scriptures are fulfilled, and all the types are fulfilled,
and all the signs are fulfilled. All is fulfilled in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now when He had fulfilled everything
that was written of Him, they took Him down, and what did they
do? They put Him in a tomb, and you
know what happened? God raised Him up. God raised
him up from the dead, and he was seen of his disciples, and
at one time, Paul said, he was seen of over 500 brethren at
one time, the Lord Jesus Christ. And since that day, God has raised
up beloved preacher after preacher, evangelist, missionaries, sent
them to the whole world who have preached the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ, has faithfully presented the gospel of free
grace to men and women around this world. If any man thirsts,
Jesus said, let him come to me and drink, and out of his belly
shall flow rivers of living water. Christ said, come unto me, all
ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. This
is what He said. And in Revelation 22 and 17,
at the end of the book, at the very end of the Bible, and the
Spirit of the bride say, come, and let him that heareth say,
come, and let him that is athirst come, and whosoever will, let
him take the water of life freely. John chapter 5 and verse 24,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and
believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall
not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.
God sent his only begotten Son into the world, not to condemn
the world, but that the world through him might be saved, is
the language of the scripture. But men will not hear this gospel,
and they say it's foolishness. It's foolishness to them. If
God leaves them, My kinfolks and yours, my neighbors and yours,
if God leaves them in their unbelief and their blindness and in their
rebellion, to whom, I ask, is it unfair? Is God unrighteous? God forbid, Paul said. God forbid. God forbid. If it wasn't for
the intervention of God, there wouldn't be anybody saved. We'd
all be in unbelief. We go right on our merry way
to hell. Now this world makes fun of born-again,
blood-washed people of God. In the newspaper, on the TV,
and the radio, and whatever means of communication, this world
has, it shows its contempt for Jesus Christ and for all of those
who believe on Him. All of those who trust in Him
and all of those who believe His Word. You just let somebody
say they've been born again and you'll hear the snicker and the
laughs of the world because they're made fun of for believing and
identifying themselves with the beloved Son of God. The byword
of today is don't preach to me. Have you ever heard anybody say
it? Just don't preach to me. Now that's what a lot of children
say to their parents and people we're around day by day. Don't
preach to me. Don't preach to me. Well fine
friend, have it your way. Have it your way. But I asked
you If God passes you by and leaves you in your hatred and
rebellion and blindness, to whom is it unfair? Is it unfair? Is it unrighteous for God to
do that? No. He sent preachers and he's
put witnesses all around you testifying to you daily by their
lives and by their words. that Christ dwells in men and
women by faith, and as you trust Him and believe upon Him, your
sins are pardoned and put away, and you're reconciled unto God,
and all that stood between you and a holy God has been removed
by the Lord Jesus Christ, and yet you will not believe. You'll have to say the same thing
in that day when you stand before the Lord as the thief that hung
on the cross said, we're getting what we deserve. We're getting
what we deserve. Anyone that will thumb their
nose at the gospel and thumb their nose at God's redeeming
grace and will not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ when the
message is preached, my friend, You get what you deserve when
that day of judgment comes. Brother, sister, this religious
crowd all around us is crying out today against the sovereignty
of God in the salvation of a sinner, in God's right to go ahead and
have a people. Whether the world is believing
or whether it's not believing, they will not allow God to have
a people. My friend, God will have his
people. I told you last week. You hear
that heaven, there's lots of room in heaven and that there
will be, but when we get to heaven there will not be one chair empty
and there will be no vacancy signs on any of the mansions
in glory. I told you that God will have
his people and he will have his glory for bringing them to himself. And beloved, this is a true statement.
God will have a people. The Holy Spirit is going to have
temple and Jesus Christ is going to have a bride and he'll do
it. Let God be true and every man
a liar. The unbelief of the sinner makes
not the promises of God of no effect. God's going to have a
people and he will call them, those people, unto himself. But
men are against the sovereignty of God in the salvation of a
sinner. It's all right. For God to be
sovereign in other places other words God you can come out at
night and light the candles of heaven You can come out and fling
the stars out in the universe you can be sovereign in heaven
But stay out of this business of salvation. We don't want you
in this business of salvation now It's alright for a man to
say, well God, if you stay in your place, then we'll be alright
with that. You and I will get along just
fine. But they think that salvation, that's an area in which God don't
belong. Listen to me. They despise free,
unmerited grace. Do you? If you're here this morning
and you're lost, do you look down on free, unmerited grace? That's the only thing that's
going to get you out of the predicament you're in. That's the only thing
that's going to get you out of your sin and get you into everlasting
life. It's the only thing that's going
to bring you into favor with God, the free unmerited grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ. But they love free will. They hate free unmerited grace,
but they love free will. They demand that they have their
free will. They demand it. You must let
us have free will. We're free to choose and we defend
our right to choose. Well, and we choose our own will. That's what they're telling you.
We choose to do what we will do. Now, We'll have it our way. That's the way we want it. Now
then, my friend, if God leaves a man to his choice, and leaves
him to his so-called or professed free will, it's not free, because
it's in bondage to his old nature, as sure as we're alive. Now listen
to me, is God unfair if he leaves a man, man says, I want free
will, let him leave him to it. Well, if God leaves a man to
his own will, it'll take him ever, ever away from God and
to hell without remedy. My friend, you better hope that
God does not leave you to yourself or that he doesn't leave you
to your free will. You better hope that he intervenes
like he did with Jacob. Aha, my friend, there wasn't
that much difference between what we saw in Jacob. You must
remember that. There was just an intricate,
listen, they were as close, they were brothers, and they were
twins in the womb, and they were as close to being alike as you
find And I want to tell you this, it was only by the free mercy
of God and the election of grace that old Jacob ever come out
of that womb and ever come to know the Lord. It was only by
the grace of God that he did. Now then, if God leaves a man
to his own will, it'll take him away from God. Just leave them
alone. God said leave them alone. You
better hope God never says I'll just leave you alone. Have you
ever said I just wish people would leave me alone? I just
wish God would leave me alone. Well, my friend, you better not
say that. You better repent hurriedly if
you said that. You better repent, because if
God leaves you alone, you're going to spend eternity in the
lake of fire. You're going to forever, ever, ever have the
lash of God upon you for all eternity if you mean what you
say. If you mean what you say. Now
let me give you a couple of examples of this. Turn back with me, if
you will, to John chapter 5. John chapter 5. And let's start
with verse 31 here. I just thought this brought out
what we're trying to say. In verse 31, Jesus said, if I
bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. Now that's a strange
statement, but what it means is this, that Jesus said, if
I'm the only one that bears witness of myself, who I am, and what
I'm about here in this world, if I'm the only one, then I don't
expect you to believe me. Because I know that in the mouth
of two or three witnesses, every word must be established. And
therefore, if you don't believe just because of my witness, then
I understand that. But in verse 32, there is another
that beareth witness of me, and I know that the witness he witnesseth
of me is true. Ye sent unto John, and he beareth
witness unto the truth. John the Baptist, the forerunner
of the Lord Jesus. But I receive not testimony from
man, but I just simply say these things Jesus said that ye might
be saved. that you might hear from my mouth
the truth and that you would be saved. I simply state these
things. He, John, was a burning and shining
light. You were willing for a season
to rejoice in his light. But I have greater witness than
that of John, for the works which the Father hath given me to finish,
the same works that I do bear witness of me that the Father
hath sent me. What were those works? Well,
did he not cause the blind to see, the lame to walk, the dead
to live, and the deaf to hear? Absolutely. These works bore
witness that this man was the Son of God, and that he come
into this world divinely sent. Now, if you will, notice verse
39. Verse 39, search the scriptures our Lord says. In verse 38 he
said, and you have not his word abiding in you, you don't have
his word, the word of God is not in you, for whom he has sent
him you believe not. You haven't believed on the Son
of God whom the Father has sent into this world. Search the Scriptures. Now, here he does not tell them
to do this, but he's simply saying that they are doing this. They
are Scripture searchers. That's who we're talking to here.
We're talking about those who was going about to kill the Lord
Jesus Christ in verse 18 of this same chapter, and they were searchers
of the Scriptures. And so he said, for in them,
that is in the Scriptures, You think you have eternal life.
You think that you have eternal life because you're the descendant
of Abraham, the fleshly descendant of Abraham. But he said, you
think you have eternal life, but these Scriptures, which your
saying supports, you're what you believe, these Scriptures,
they testify of me. They're talking about me. You've
missed me in the scriptures. You've missed my message and
my gospel and my mission in the scriptures. They are they which
testify of me. Now notice verse 40, and the
conclusion and the result of their missing Christ in the scriptures
is stated in verse 40, and you will not come to me that you
might have life. You won't do it. You won't come
to me. In your stubbornness and rebellion
and blindness and hardness of heart and ignorance, you will
not come to me that you might have life. There's life one place. Mitch mentioned this morning,
John 10, and he said, I'm the door. Jesus said, I'm the door.
By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved, shall go in and
out, and find pasture. I'm the light of the world. If
you want light, you get it from the Lord Jesus. If you want life,
you get it from Him. But Jesus said, you will not.
You will not. You will not. Now who's being
unfair? Who's being unfair? Jesus said,
if you'll come to me, you'll have life. But you will not come. Now then, I want you to look
at Matthew chapter 8. Turn over there with me, Matthew
chapter 8. And let's look here at these
first three verses. When he was come down, that is, Jesus from
the mountain, great multitudes followed him. And behold, there
came a leper, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt,
thou canst make me clean. Now here, my friend, here comes
a man of a different condition. He's different. Something different
about that. This man's in need. This man
is a helpless victim of leprosy. This is a dying man. And this man, here is a different
approach. And I want you to see the approach
that this leper makes to the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, Lord,
if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. Now he acknowledged
the lordship of Jesus Christ. He acknowledged that he was God. And he says, if thou wilt, I
know you have a will, and I know whatever you will can be done
and will be done, if thou wilt thou canst make me clean. You
have the power, you have the ableness, you're able to cleanse
away my leprosy. Now then, Jesus said in verse
3, I will. I will. Now brethren, can you
not see that the approach that this man made brought out, as
it were, the graciousness and the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. It brought his grace and mercy
to the forefront. Jesus said, I will be thou clean. And he was cleansed of all of
his leprosy. It was all taken away because
Jesus said, I will. I will. This is my will. Now
my friend, how important is this? Well, if you think about it,
look over here in Matthew chapter 7, and look beginning with verse
7. And the Lord Jesus says, Ask
and it shall be given. Oh, for a humble heart. for a
humble heart that will ask of the Lord. This man came to the
Lord Jesus in the state he was in, in humility, bowing before
the Lord Jesus, acknowledging His Lordship and His sovereignty,
and the Lord cleansed him from all of his leprosy. And Jesus
here says, ask and it shall be given you. Would you vote for
God to give a man something that he wouldn't ask for? Absolutely
not. Well, I wouldn't vote for it.
But I will tell you this, that every one of His elect, they
choose Christ because He has chosen them. They would have
never chosen Him if it had not been for His having first chosen
them in divine sovereignty and election. But it said ask. Have you asked? Have you asked? Have you asked the Lord Jesus
Christ to be your Savior and Lord? Have you asked Him to?
Have you asked Him? Well, if you're ever saved, I
believe you'll get around to asking Him. Asking Him. Ask Him. He says, and it shall
be given. Seek and you shall find. Knock
and it shall be opened unto you. I'm showing you that the Lord
is not unfair. I'm showing you that He's gracious.
I'm showing you that He's merciful. And I'm showing you that He is
ever merciful. Notice. For everyone that asketh
receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, he supports what he's
saying here, reiterates it again, and to him that knocketh it shall
be opened. Or what man is there of you,
whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? You see,
you got a haughty attitude. You see, you expect God to do
something that maybe he wouldn't do on an ordinary basis maybe
to get your attention. Well, why don't you humble yourself
and begin to ask God just like a son would ask his father for
a piece of bread. And if he asks his father for
bread, Will he give him a stone? Absolutely not. Absolutely not. Or if you ask a fish, will he
give him a serpent? No. If ye, then, being evil,
know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more
shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them
that what? Ask Him. Ask Him. You see the
different approach? You have those in John chapter
5 that are hard, callous, unbelievers. They have no need. They're seeking
to kill the Lord Jesus Christ. And then you have, here the Lord
says, if you just ask Me, ask Me, come, bow to My sovereignty
and ask Me, and I will. I will. Now I want you to turn
back with me, if you will, to the 9th chapter of the book of
Romans. To the 9th chapter of the book of Romans. If you're
thirsty or needy, come on. If you can come by faith, come
on to the Lord Jesus Christ. Humbly present yourself before
Him in your true character. And the Lord Jesus Christ has
mercy on sinners. Now back in Romans chapter 9,
I want you to look at verse 15. Now what does Paul, after he
says, what shall we say then, is there unrighteousness with
God? God forbid. Does he defend God? No. He just
simply says, let's turn to the Scriptures, and we see where
that the Scriptures bear out the truth. Isaiah chapter 8 and
verse 20 says, to the law and to the testimony, if they speak
not according to this word, There's no light in them. But he says,
let's turn to the scriptures. And what scripture is he talking
about? Well, here in verse 16 or 15, he says, For he saith
to Moses, that is, God says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom
I will have mercy. That's my sovereign prerogative.
I owe mercy to no man. To no man. But I will have mercy
on whom I will have mercy. And I will have compassion on
whom I will have compassion. It's my sovereign prerogative
to have mercy on whom I will. On whom I will. Alright? Now
then, what Scripture is he talking about? He's talking about Exodus
chapter 33. Now if you turn there in your
Bible, Exodus chapter 33, let's notice here three things that
Moses asks of God here in these verses. which come down to the
very verse that we just read. But I want you to notice that
the apostle here does not defend God. He doesn't defend God. He
just says, let's look at the Scriptures. See what the Word
of God says about our God. And then here in verse 12 of
Exodus 33, Moses said unto the Lord, See thou sayest unto me,
Bring up this people, and thou hast not let me know whom thou
wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee
by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. Now therefore
I pray thee, number one, if I found grace in thy sight, show me now
thy way, that I may know thee. Show me now thy way, that I may
know thee. I don't want my own way, Moses
said. I do not want my own way. And there's not a child of God,
a true believer. on the Lord Jesus Christ in this
world that wants His own way. We don't want that way that seems
right unto a man, the end thereof be the ways of death. We want
the way of the Lord. We want His way, only His way,
not our way. We do not want to go in that
path that we would choose. Your way, Moses says, I want. I want your way. that I may know
thee. Now beloved, salvation is not
knowing that there is a God, it is knowing the God that is. Don't you forget that statement.
John chapter 17 and verse 3 says that this is life eternal, that
you might know me, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he
has sent. And so, salvation is not knowing
there is a God, it's knowing the God that is. Now the second
thing that we see where that Moses asked is found in verse
15, and he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me,
carry us not up hence. Now what he means by that is,
I don't want you, I want you to be, I don't want to go any
place unless you go with me. I don't want to go anywhere you're
not. I want to be led. Don't let me turn to the right
hand or to the left unless you're with me. And bless you with me.
Now note in verse 16, he says this, For wherein shall it be
known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight?
Is it not in that that thou goest with us? Beloved, is this not
the way that we know that we belong to the Lord, that God
is with us? that He walks with us, and that we have His blessing
upon us from day to day in this life, that the Lord shows us
His hand, His goodness toward us. He says, this is the way
we're going to be separated, I and thy people, from all the
people that are upon the face of the earth. The Bible says,
they that are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God. And God leads His dear children,
the song says, along. God leads His children. That's
the way you can tell the difference between world and sinners and
the people of God. God is with His people. He is
with them. And they don't have to go unless
He sends. They don't have to go without
His blessing, because His blessing will be upon them, because they're
His people. And the Lord said to Moses, I'll
do this thing, also that thou hast spoken, for thou hast found
grace in my sight, and I know thee by name. Isn't this a marvelous
thing that those that are true believers in Jesus Christ found
grace in the sight of the Lord and the Lord knows us by name.
He calls the sheep by name and leads them out. And he said,
well, in verse 18, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. Now
beloved Moses had seen enough of the glory of God to satisfy
most people. Don't you think? He had. Moses had seen a lot of the glory
of God. I'm getting to something here.
If you'll give me a chance to get there. Now notice here. He saw the burning bush. You
remember in Exodus chapter 3. Moses saw that bush burning.
He was about 80 years old then. And the bush wasn't consumed
and Moses would turn aside. He said, I'm going to turn aside
and take a look at this. I've got to see this. And you
remember as he approached the bush, God spoke to him out of
the bush and said, Moses, you take off your shoes. This is
holy ground. He saw the glory of God. He went on to talk to Moses about
how that he was going to use him to deliver the children of
Israel out of the land of Egypt. And you remember when they went
down there, there was about 70 of them, I believe, and now there
was about two and a half million of them. And Moses is to go down
there and lead them out of the land of Egypt. And he's going
to see All of the plagues come upon the Egyptians and he's going
to see what happened at the Red Sea and out in the wilderness
when the rock gave forth water and so on. A whole lot of glory
he was going to see. But when he was getting ready
to go, he said, well, when I go down, he said, the people are
going to say, well, what's his name? You say God sent you, what's
his name? And Moses, or God said to Moses,
you tell them I am that I am. You tell them I am has sent thee. I am. You see, this was a tremendous
experience. But Moses knew, in spite of all
the glory that he had seen up to that time, that the greatest
glory of God, that which brings God his greatest glory, he hadn't
seen it yet. He hadn't witnessed it. He hadn't
seen it. Now, beloved, God can create, and He has. And in Psalm
19, verse 1, it says, The heavens declare the glory of God, and
the firmament showeth His handiwork. But for God, hear me out. to
save a rebellious sinner without sending him to hell as he ought
to be sent, for God to save a rebellious sinner, for Him to take this
sinner off of the dunghill and out of the cesspool and make
him a new creature and still be God, just and justifier, this,
my friend, is His true glory. for Him to take a sinner, and
for Him to take that sinner, and take him unto Himself, and
as it were, to make Him a new creature, make Him a believer,
make Him one who will trust unreservedly in the Son of God. This is the
glory of God. This is His greatest glory. And
look in verse 19, He said, I'll make all My goodness pass before
you, and I'll proclaim the name of the Lord before you. And here
is where He gets what he says in Romans chapter 9. He said,
I'll be gracious, and I will show mercy on whom I will show
mercy. And he said, Thou canst not see
my face, for there shall no man see me and live. And the Lord
said, Behold, there's a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon
a rock, and it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth
by, that I'll put thee in a cliff to the rock, and will cover thee
with my hand while I pass by, And I will take away mine hand,
and thou shalt see my back parts, but my face shall not be seen. But God revealed His glory, all
of His goodness, His goodness, His mercy. He says, I'll have
mercy on whom I will have mercy. Now, in Romans chapter 9 again,
if you will turn back there with me in your Bibles, Romans chapter
9, we'll hurry here to a conclusion. So after he quotes Exodus 33,
he says, so then, it. So then it, in verse 16 of Romans
9. It. What's he talking about? What is this it here? Well, that's
salvation is what it is. It's eternal life. That's what
it is. It's a relationship with God.
It's being reconciled to God. So that it is not of him that
willeth. It's not of the man that willeth.
The human will has nothing whatever to do with salvation. It's got
nothing to do with it. It's the will of God that brings
about our salvation. The will of God. You remember the verses that
we read to you out of John chapter 1. And verse 13, that we were
born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the
will of man, but of God. But of God. James 1.18 says,
Of His own will begat He us with the word of truth, so that it
is not of Him that willeth. It's not of the man who says,
My free will got me in. No, no, no, no. No, no. It's
got nothing to do with it. Whether you will or won't. The
Bible says that God's people are made willing in the day of
His power. I know they're all willing. They're
all willing. All God's people are willing
when God saves them. Because God makes them willing.
He brings them to the place. He don't save a man and him kicking
and screaming, dragging, trying to pull the other way. No! When
God saves somebody, He wants to be saved. He wants to be born
again. He wants the life of God. He wants it. God makes him want
it. Now then, what is this runneth? Not of him that willeth, nor
of him that runneth. What's that? Well, that's activity. That's what that is. That's effort.
That's works. That's human merit, is what that
is. It's not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth. The fellow said, I'm trying my
best to get saved. Why don't you just rest in the
Lord Jesus? Why don't you just cast yourself
upon Him? Why don't you just come to the
Lord Jesus in faith? And why don't you rest in His
finished work? We sang the song earlier, it
is finished. It is finished. It is! It's finished. Rest! Rest! Labor, my friend! Labor! Not to labor! Labor to rest! That's what you're
to do. It's not of Him that runneth.
Somebody said, I've been running here and there. Why don't you
settle down? Stay at home. It's not of Him that runneth,
but of God that showeth mercy. It's His sovereign mercy. Now in verse 18, quickly, I just
want to pass a verse here, and in another sermon I want to preach
verse 17 on down through some other verses down through maybe
verse 23 or 24. But I want you to look at verse
18. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and
whom he will he'll harden. It's of God that showeth mercy.
That's the point I want to make. only of God, totally of God.
Have you had mercy? Now we know that mercy is not
given to those who deserve it. It's given to the guilty. It's
not given to the innocent. If you're innocent, you don't
need no mercy. Given to the guilty. And he said, but of God it shows
mercy. God does show mercy. Do you want
the mercy of God? Do you want it? Only of God,
totally of God. Now I want to give you these
two statements. Let me say, if anyone is an object
of mercy, it's because of God's sovereign will. Listen to this,
God owes mercy to none. So there is no injustice. No
injustice. God is not unfair. God is not
unrighteous. There is no injustice when mercy
is not shown. You see the problem that most
people have is that they think God owes them something. God
owes them something. The only thing God owes you is
justice and that He will give swiftly to lost sinners when
they come before His bar. So God owes mercy to none so
there is no injustice when mercy is not shown. Lastly, Mercy is
a divine prerogative. It rests on God's good pleasure
to give it. You can't induce Him to give
it. It's in His hands and it's His good pleasure when He gives
it. I thank God that I'm a recipient
of God's mercy. I'm like Jacob. I don't deserve
the least of His mercies. Not the least of His mercies.
But I thank God. And I'm like old Jacob. He didn't
deserve it either. That surplanner, that cheater,
that's what he was. He didn't deserve mercy, but
God showed him mercy. He loved him, and he showed him
mercy. So you see, it's not of him that
willeth nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. May God be pleased to bring you
this morning. I had a particular burden on
my soul this morning as I As I came here, and as I thought
about this message, and I prepared this message, I thought about
some of you that have listened and heard over and over again.
And when it's all over with, I wonder if you'll say, God's
been unfair. God's been unrighteous. He passed me by. No, my friend. Why don't you take a look at,
what is it? 110 is it? 110 or 210? Peter said,
make your calling in election sure. Why don't you take a look
at that? You say, now you're trying to
tell me to run? No, I ain't telling you to do
anything. I'm not telling you to do anything. I'm going to
tell you that you're responsible, you're responsible to believe
the gospel. You don't have to move a muscle. You're responsible
to believe the gospel. and to say amen to the witnesses
that God has given of His gospel, of His Son, the Lord Jesus. You're
responsible to believe it. May God move upon your heart
this day and may faith come by hearing and hearing by the Word
of God. Father, in the name of Jesus,
we pray that thou wilt use this message for your glory and your
honor, establish hearts, build up hearts, and may the word of
God run well this day. For Jesus' sake, amen.