and everybody pray that the Lord
will be pleased to speak to the young people. Tonight I'm going
to be speaking on the rich man and Lazarus out of Luke chapter
17. And also wanted to let you know, in New Jersey, where Clay
Curtis is the pastor, they've been meeting together for about
eight years, and he's been here, and they've been meeting in a
fire hall. It's not a very good place to meet. But they've identified
some property, and if we can help them with a down payment
for that, I'd like for us to be able to do that. So if you
can help with that, mark that on your check, designated to,
what's the name of the church? I forgot. You know. Sovereign
Grace, Sovereign Grace Church in New Jersey. So just market
for that. And I want us to help them all
we can. You know, it'd be a blessing to them. It'd be a blessing to
us. I've entitled this message. They are both. True. They are both. True. Well, what are you talking about?
Well, listen and see. When Paul talks about God rejecting
the Jews because of their rejection of him and provoking them to
jealousy because they provoked him to jealousy with their idolatry,
we're given two very strong statements. One with regard to God's absolute
sovereignty and the other with regard to human responsibility. Look with me in verse 20 of Romans
chapter 10. But Isaiah is very bold. I mean, he's so clear when he
makes this statement. I love the way Paul says that
Isaiah is very bold. Paul likes what's being said.
Isaiah is very bold and saith, This is God speaking. I was found
to them that sought me not. They weren't even looking for
me. And they found me. And I was made manifest unto
them that asked not after me. They weren't asking for me. They
didn't care. They weren't concerned. They didn't believe. They had
no desire to know me. Yet I was made manifest to them. Now here we have a very strong
statement concerning God's absolute sovereignty in salvation. That's strong, isn't it? Folks
who weren't looking for me found me. And folks who weren't asking
for me, I made myself known to them. Aren't you thankful for
that? Where would we be if that were not the truth? I'm so thankful
for that. But look what he says next in
verse 21, but to Israel, he saith all day long, not just for a
few minutes, not just for a couple of hours, but all day long, every
day. All day long have I stretched
forth my hands. Now, the picture is, come to
me. Come to me. All day long have
I stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient, and the word is
unpersuadable, and gainsaying. That word means contradictory. an unpersuadable and contradictory
people, people who are great contradictions. They say one
thing and do another. To these people, I've stretched
forth my hands all the day long. Now, God's sovereignty and man's
responsibility, my responsibility, are both true. And if you don't believe them
both, in reality, you don't believe either. And if you don't receive
them both, in reality, you receive neither. Romans 10, 13, whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. That will
not happen. We won't call upon his name unless
we believe both of these things in our heart. God's absolute
sovereignty in salvation and my own personal responsibility. They are both true. May God be our teacher as we
consider this. Now, what a statement. God says,
I was found of them that sought me not. They weren't seeking
me. They didn't even care whether
I existed. They weren't seeking me and they found me. I was made manifest. I revealed
myself to people who weren't asking me to do it. Now, this is God speaking and
it's a statement he makes regarding the sovereignty of His grace. Now God is sovereign. You know
what that means? It means God's God. It means He does whatever He
wants to do. And there's no restraint. There's
nothing that keeps Him back from doing what He wants. He has a will. He has the power
to make His will come to pass and he always does, always does
make his will come to pass. That's what God's sovereignty
means. God does what he wants to do. Don't you love that? God
does what he wants to do. We read in Daniel 4 35, he doeth
according to his will. in the armies of heaven and among
the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand. None
can prevent him or say unto him, what doest thou? Give an account
for yourself. You need to answer. No, he does
whatever he wants to do. Our God is in the heavens. He
hath done. whatsoever he hath pleased. He hath mercy on whom he will
have mercy. Now listen to this scripture
from Romans 9, Exodus 33. He has mercy on whom he will
have mercy and whom he will, he hardens. He hardens. He said to Pharaoh, even for
this same purpose, have I raised you up, that I might show my
power in thee, and 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 actively hardens. Now, Barnard was once preaching
from Romans chapter nine, and somebody said to him, your God's
a monster. He said, prepare to meet a monster
then, because that is the God of the Bible. Now, when we speak of God's will,
there is a distinction that needs to be made. First of all, there's
the will of God's commandment. It's expressed in the 10 commandments.
When God tells you to do something, you're responsible to do what
he says to do, aren't you? God's will is expressed in the
Ten Commandments. The thou shalts and the thou shalt nots. God's
will of commandment. But you know what? It's always
broken. It's never obeyed. And then there's God's will of
decree. And you know what? It is always done. Every time, no exception to the
rule. God's will of commandment is
never kept. You and I haven't kept one commandment
one time. And if we believe we have, We
demonstrate a great ignorance of God's holy law, and we demonstrate
a great ignorance of ourself. If God was your teacher, you'd
know better than that. We've not kept one commandment
one time. But God's will and decree, that
which he's determined before time began to be done, it is
always kept. God said in Isaiah 46, 11, I've
spoken it, I will also do it. I have purposed it, I shall bring
it to pass. God's will decree is always done. Now God's will is eternal. That
means whatever his will is now, it always has been and it always
will be. It's eternal. He said, I declare
the end from the beginning and from ancient times, the things
that are not yet done saying my counsel shall stand and I
will do all my pleasure. That's who God is. His will is
always done. It can't be thwarted. He said, All the works were finished from
the foundation of the world. All the works, everything that
happens in time, he determined in eternity and his will is always
done. You know, I think this is so
glorious. He controls the free actions of men. You do what you
want to do. And he's in absolute control
of it. God is so glorious. His will is immutable. You know
what that means? It's a big word. It means it
can't be changed. God never changes his mind. His
will is never changed. He said, I am the Lord. I change
not. Therefore you sons of Jacob are
not consumed. Jesus Christ the same yesterday,
today, and forever. And his will is efficacious. There's another big word. What's
that mean? It means his power brings it to pass. You see, he's
omnipotent. He's all powerful. Now we can
will things all the time, but they're not necessarily going
to come to pass because we don't have the power to bring them
to pass. But he does. Whatever he wills, he has the
power to bring to pass. His will can't be thwarted. None
can say his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? And the
will of God has no cause outside of himself. What do I mean by
that? Well, God's will is never him
reacting or responding to anything. He never reacts. He never responds. I love the way the Lord said,
I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
you've hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed
them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in thy sight. The Lord Jesus was so satisfied
with whatever seems good in the sight of his Father. His will
is never contingent. upon something taking place,
it's just whatever he is pleased to do. Whatsoever the Lord pleased,
that did he. Now, his will is expressed. His will is expressed in creation. When he willed this universe
into existence. He created something from nothing
simply as an act of His will. What amazing power! What amazing
glory! His will is expressed in providence. You know what that means? That
means everything that happens in time He decreed it in eternity. And everything's going exactly
as He has purposed it. His will is expressed in providence. Now remember this. This is so
comforting to a believer. I mean, there's all kinds of
things that seem out of control and chaotic and hurtful and what
in the world's going on. God's will's being done. That's
what's going on. All the time. And He's gonna
bring good out of evil all the time. Ye fearful saints, fresh
courage take. The clouds you so much dread
are big with mercy and shall break in blessings on your head. Judge not the Lord by feeble
sense, but trust him for his grace. Behind a frowning providence,
he hides a smiling face. Everything that happens, he is
in absolute control of. It's his will being done. It's the Lord, said Eli. Let him do what seemeth him good. And his will is most especially
expressed in salvation. Our Lord said in John 5 21, as
the father raises the dead and quickens them, even so the son
quickens whom he will. If you're saved, there's one
reason God willed your salvation. You weren't seeking him. You
didn't even care. And God willed your salvation. The Lord said, you've not chosen
me, but I've chosen you. I love this scripture. First
Corinthians four, seven. I can just bat out scriptures
like this, like a machine gun regarding God's absolute sovereignty
and salvation. That's who he is. He said, who maketh thee
to differ from another? If you're saved and that person
beside you is not saved, who made you to differ from another?
And what do you have that you didn't receive? God made you
to differ. He made you to differ in election
when he chose you to be saved. He made you to differ in redemption
when Christ died for you and put away your sins. He made you
to differ in regeneration when he birthed you into the kingdom.
Of his own will begat he us, the scripture says. I love that.
Of his own will begat he us through the word of truth. Now, in the
salvation of the sinner, all of God's gracious actions are
entirely unmerited. Everything God does for me or
you, it has absolutely nothing to do with what me or you do. They're entirely and completely
unmerited. These people were not seeking.
These people were not asking. Now you ask any saint and they'll
tell you and they'll confirm that what I'm saying is true.
There was nothing in me that caused God to choose me. There
was nothing in me, nothing pleasing to God that made him think I'm
going to give my son for him. There was nothing in me that
made the Holy Spirit give me life. He didn't say, well, I
can see he's going to be a preacher. I'm going to give him life. Or
he can do this. No, nothing like that at all. Everything God does
for the sinner is completely and entirely unmerited. Every believer shares the same
hope. Listen to this scripture. This
is a faithful saying. And it's worthy of all acceptation. Everybody ought to rejoice and
receive this, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,
of whom not I was the chief, but of whom I am the chief. Now that is the hope of every
single child of God. It's the one and only hope of
every single child of God. When we were yet without strength,
in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. Oh, what a blessed
scripture. And you know, my hope hadn't changed. When
I first believed, my only hope was that when he said it is finished,
my salvation was finished. And now for however long I've
been a believer, my hope hadn't changed one iota. It's still
found right here. It is finished. In the salvation of the sinner,
it's always his will being done. Election is his will being done. Redemption. is his will being
done. Regeneration, being born from
above, is his will being done. Preservation, the fact that I've
continued to persevere all this time, is his will being done.
Now, he said, I give unto my sheep eternal life, and they
shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my
hand. What would happen? I've got this
glass of water in my hand. Everybody's getting thirsty,
I'm sure. But what would happen if I let it go? What would happen? It would drop and break into
pieces. What would happen if Christ let
you go? How quick would you fall? How quick would you be destroyed?
But if I hold it in my hand, why is it being held up? I'm
holding it. I'm holding it. That's why a
believer perseveres. The reason you don't fall away
is Christ is holding you. He said, my sheep hear my voice.
I give into them eternal life and they shall never perish.
Eternal life. They shall never perish. Neither shall any man
pluck them out of my hand. My father, which gave them me
is greater than all. And no man is able to pluck them
out of my father's hand. Oh, why do you persevere? You know the answer to that question. These people who found him were
not seeking, the shepherd was seeking them. These people were
not asking for him and he revealed himself to them. This is what
is called grace. Grace. But isn't this dangerous doctrine?
Why? This will encourage people to
not seek the Lord. Why? I don't even need to seek
him because if he's determined to, he'll seek me. I'll just
go on, laissez faire, do as I want, not be concerned about it. This will make people fatalistic.
If you tell them everything's already done before time began
and nothing's going to be changed and God's will is going to be
done, this is going to turn people into fatalists. Not do anything. Well, our responsibility is to
preach what God says in his word. And if somebody wants to take
it and abuse it, what can I do about it? My responsibility is
not to try to guard what God says in his word to keep people
from abusing it. My responsibility is to preach
the word. And I've given you exactly what God's word teaches
regarding God's sovereignty. And if somebody is going to hang
themselves with ropes, does that mean we quit manufacturing ropes?
No. If we quit manufacturing ropes,
they'd figure out some other way to kill themselves. Now,
if somebody abuses the truth, that's their fault. If you would
use this as a reason to not seek the Lord and to act in indifference,
shame on you. You know, to somebody who believe
in God's absolute sovereignty, does anybody ever say, well,
there's no point in me planting a garden if it's God's will just come
up? No. Nobody thinks that way in real
life, yet people act that way about God's absolute sovereignty.
That's ridiculous. So if you use this as an excuse
for your own unbelief, shame on you. God is absolutely sovereign
and we love that. Now here's what we'll do if we
receive it the right way. We'll do like that leper. He
came and worshiped him saying, Lord, if you will, you understand
that the only hope you have is found in God's will. If you will,
you can make me clean. Any other response is a wrong
response. Now, everybody in this room, you ought to be and I ought
to be saying, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. Don't
leave me to myself. If you will, it's all up to you.
I can't make myself clean. I know that I'm in your hand. If you will, you can make me
clean. Oh, make me clean, please. Back in our text in Romans 10,
look what it says in verse 21. But to Israel, this privileged
people, he made a difference between Israel and the rest of
the world. Israel had a word from God, nobody else did. The
Gentiles had been left to themselves as an act of God's justice. But
now to Israel he saith all day long, the same one who is absolutely
sovereign. Get that? Don't miss that. The same one who is absolutely,
immutably, irrevocably sovereign says to Israel, all day long
have I stretched forth my hands. You know what that means? Come
to me. Come to me. To Israel. All day long have
I stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient. That word means
unpersuadable. And to a gainsaying, and that
word means contradictory. Contradictory, people who are
just contradictory. He says all day long have I stretched
forth my hands to these people. Now, Romans chapter 10 verse 13 says,
whosoever Whosoever. Are you in that demographic? Yes, you are. Whosoever. It doesn't say the elect. It doesn't say those for whom
Christ died. It doesn't say those who have
been born from above. It says whosoever. I'm speaking to everybody in
this room. Whosoever. shall call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved. If you call on the Lord's name,
he'll save you. And if you are not saved, it
will not be because God didn't elect you. It will not be because
Christ didn't die for you. It'll not be because the Holy
Spirit didn't give you life. It'll be because you refused
to call. He made this promise. Whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. God commands, Acts chapter 17
verse 30, God commands all men everywhere to repent, to change
your mind, to change your mind about God, to change your mind
about yourself, to change your mind about the things of God
and salvation. Repent and believe the gospel. You're called upon to do that
by God himself. Christ said to Jerusalem, O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem. This is Christ speaking. Thou
that killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent to
thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together,
even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings? And you would
not. That's the Lord speaking. He
says, I would. And you would not. Matthew 23,
37. John 6, 27. He looked at some people that
he knew would leave him. If you read John chapter six,
5,000 left him after they heard this message. And he says to
those very people, labor not for the meat, which perishes,
but for the meat, which endures to everlasting life, which the
son of man shall give to you. He'll give this freely to you. They replied, well, What shall
we do that we might work the works of God? And he said, this
is the work of God that you believe on him whom he hath sent. This is the work of God that
you, not somebody else, that you believe on him whom he hath
sent. You really believe God sent his
son and he did what he sent him to do. And you rely upon that. In Acts chapter 16, verse 30,
the Philippian jailer said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? What a question. Paul didn't
reply with, there's nothing you can do, that's legalism, that's
works. No, here's what he said, he said,
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe, rely upon the Lord. He's the Lord, that means His
will's done. Jesus, He's the Savior. Christ is God's Christ,
God's prophet, God's priest, God's king. Believe. What must
you do? Believe. Rely upon the Lord Jesus
Christ as your salvation and you shall be saved. The Lord said in John chapter
six, verse 37, all that the father giveth me shall come to me and
him that cometh to me. Now hear that. Him that cometh
to me, I will in no wise cast out. Now this is something done
in the heart. You can't come to him physically. This is not
something you walk down the aisle to do. But in your heart you
say, Lord, I don't have anywhere else to go. I'm coming to you. Have mercy on me. Anybody who
comes, will be received. He says, come for all things
are now ready. You don't need to bring anything.
Let not conscience make you linger nor fitness fondly dream. The
only fitness he requires is to have a need of him. Now this one who is sovereign
says, come on, all things are now ready. I love what Peter
said on the day of Pentecost. He said, repent and be baptized
every one of you for the remission of sins. And you shall receive
the gift of the Holy Ghost for the promises unto you and to
your children and to all that are far off, even as many as
the Lord our God shall call. I love Revelation 22, 17. The spirit and the bride say,
come. That's what God, the Holy Spirit
says to every sinner. That's the message of the church.
Come, not go away, not go and do, not get better. Come. Draw an eye unto God and he'll
draw an eye unto you. James 4, 8. The spirit and the
bride say, come. Who's he speaking to? You. You. And let him that heareth say,
come. And let him that is a thirst,
come. And whosoever will, let him take
the water of life freely. Absolutely freely. without a cause in you. Oh, what
a blessed, oh Lord, by thy grace, you've told me to come, I'm coming.
You don't need to see anything about yourself that makes you
fit to come. If you did, you won't come. In Matthew chapter 11, why don't
you turn there? Matthew chapter 11. The Lord says in verse 28, Come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Now that's his promise. You labor
and heavy laden under a burden of your sin and your inability
and your guilt. He says, come to me and I will
give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and you shall find rest
under your souls. You know, he's got the power
to give you rest. He says, for my yoke is easy. And my burden
is light. Let me tell you why this is a
light burden, because he bears it all. That's why. His yoke is easy. His burden
is light. Now, somebody says, I can't do
any of this stuff unless he draws me. I can't hear unless he enables
me. You're blaming God for the position
you're in when you talk like that. That's all you're doing. You're making an excuse for your
sin. You're not taking personal responsibility for your sin. That's what you're doing. That's
what I'm doing. Anytime I say something like that, well, I can't believe
unless he enables me. That's true, but you better believe.
And if you don't, it's all your fault. I can't come to Christ
unless he draws me. That's true. And if you don't
come, you're in big trouble. It's all your fault. He won't
cast away anybody who comes to him. Now that kind of thinking,
well, I can't believe or I can't do this unless he enables me.
That's the same thing Adam said when he said the woman that you
gave me. She gave me of the fruit and
I did eat. Yeah, I did it, but it's all
your fault. If you wouldn't have given me that woman, this would
have never happened. If you would enable me to believe, I'd be
believing. If you'd enable me to repent, I'd be repenting.
You know, you'll never ask for mercy until all your sin is all
your fault. Until you And I take complete
responsibility for our sin. We'll never call on God for mercy. It's only when all your sin is
all your fault. Israel, thou has destroyed thyself. In me is I help found. Now I want us to close by looking
at one of my favorite passages of scripture in Matthew chapter
15. If my sin is all my fault and
I have no one to blame but myself, my corrupt will has put me in
this horrible place. Here's where I'm going to be.
Matthew chapter 15 verse 21. Then Jesus went thence and departed
into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a woman of Canaan,
a place that God had cursed. came out of the same coast and
cried unto him saying, have mercy on me. Oh Lord, thou son of David,
my daughter is grievously vexed with the devil. Now this woman
has an impressive resume. She knows who the Lord is. How
many people then knew he was the son of David? She knew who
the Lord was. And she came, not in arrogance,
but with a need for mercy, with a great need, her daughter being
vexed with the devil. And look at the way the Lord
responded to her, verse 23, but he answered her not a word. Now,
don't just read that and go on. What if you came up to me and
said, I need your help, and I just turned away from you and walked
off? It'd be pretty offensive, wouldn't
it? If I came to you saying, I need your help, I need your
help, and then you just put up your nose and turned away from
me, I'd be ticked. I would. I'd think, well, who
do they think they are? Why are they treating me that way? How
did this woman respond? Evidently, she kept crying. It
didn't stop her. She didn't spin around, offended. She kept crying, and his disciples
came and besought him saying, send her away, for she crieth
after us. But he answered and said, I'm
not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Now,
what is that but divine sovereignty? I didn't come to save everybody.
Jesus Christ the Lord said this, I did not come to save everybody. I only came to save the lost
sheep of the house of Israel. Now, did this make her say, well,
what's the use? I mean, what's the use? You know what it made her do? I love this verse 25. Then, came she and worshipped Him. The only time you'll worship
is when you find out that you're in the hand of a sovereign God
who you can't manipulate, who you can't get Him to do anything. You're in His hands and He can
do with you whatsoever He's pleased to do. You know what your response
will be when you see that? You'll worship. He's to be worshipped. He's God. He's not God just in
name. He is God. Then came she and
worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. If you don't help me,
I won't be helped. Can you do that? Lord, help me. If you don't help me, it's over
for me. Lord, help me. But he answered, verse 26, and
said, it's not me to take the children's bread, my gospel,
my grace, and to cast it to dogs. Now, once again, put yourself
in this woman's place. Lord, help me. Well, it's not
appropriate to take my help and throw it to a dog like you. How would you respond to that? That's strong language. And she said, that's the truth. If I ever heard the truth, that's
the truth. I'm nothing more than a dog.
Kind of like Mephibosheth, who is this dead dog that you'd show
such mercy to me? That's the truth, Lord. I'm a
dog. Yet the dogs eat of the crumbs
which fall from their master's table. How I love this woman's
attitude. Yeah, I'm a dog, but I'm your dog. And I'm not asking
for a place setting, but I would be so grateful for any crumbs
of mercy that fall my way. The dogs eat of the crumbs which
fall from their master's table. Then Jesus answered and said
unto her, O woman, great is thy faith. Now, if you want to know
what great faith is, here it is. I think it's interesting. Probably most people would tell
her to go to a psychologist or something to try to get her self-esteem
boosted. But the Lord says to her, Oh
woman, great is thy faith. Be it unto thee even as thou
wilt. And her daughter was made whole
from that very hour. Have you ruined yourself? Have you gone astray like a lost
sheep? Well, there's a savior seeking
you right now. You come to him and you will
be received. Both of these things are true.
God is absolutely sovereign. Men are totally responsible to
come and anybody who comes will be received. Let's pray. Lord, we're so thankful that
you're gracious and merciful and delight in showing mercy.
We're so grateful that you save sinners. And Lord, I ask in Christ's
name. Oh, Lord, only in his name. I ask, we ask that you would
be pleased to save. everybody in this room. Lord, cause everybody in this
room to be just like that Syro-Phoenician woman. For Christ's sake, in his blessed
name, we pray. Amen.