unto glory, even us whom he hath
called not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles. Vessels of wrath and vessels
of mercy. I want to introduce this message
with the words of Abraham, shall not the judge of the earth do
right? I find such comfort in that. Such is the supremacy and the
transcendence of God that He does not do something because
it's right, but it's right for this one singular reason. It's right because He does it. That's how glorious our God is. And with regard to everything, He's right. Amen? Any objections we have toward
Him, are a display of self-ignorance and irreverence. God does what he does for his
own glory. That's his highest end. The highest end of God in creation
Providence, that's everything that happens in time, everything
that happens today, everything that happens yesterday, everything
that'll happen tomorrow, everything that goes on in time is his providence. And most especially, salvation,
his end in all these things is his own glory. And that's the way it should
be. Now for me to seek my glory is an evil thing. For God to
seek his own glory is the way it should be. He's God, and it's
the end for which we should live and be ready to die. Paul says, what if God? What if God? What are you going
to do about it? Now that's the spirit in which
he's, not in a harsh spirit, not in a wrong spirit, but he's,
remember Paul speaking as a spokesman for God. What if God? Verse 18 says of Romans chapter
nine, therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and
whom he will, he hardens. What if verse 18 really is true? He has mercy on whom he will
have mercy, and on whom he will, He hardens. Will me or you disagreeing
or finding fault with this change the fact? Does what you and I
think have any bearing on the fact of the isness of God? He that cometh to God must believe
that he is. I love the name he gave himself
to Moses. I am that I am. Tell them that
I am. He is who he is without reference
to what you and I believe or do not believe regarding him. What if God really is like this? What if he does things like the
potter making from the same lump? Look in verse 20. Nay, but O
man, who are you to reply against God? Shall the thing form, say
to him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the
potter power over the clay? Of the same lump, and it's talking
about fallen humanity, the fallen Adam, of the same lump to make
one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor. Now we read of
vessels of honor and vessels of dishonor. We read of vessels
of wrath, fitted to destruction and vessels of mercy which he
had afore prepared unto glory. What if God is this way? And you know what? He is. And deep down, everybody listening
knows that's so. This is who God is. Now, what if God, Paul says,
willing to show his wrath? Now, there is such a thing as
the wrath of God. The wrath of God is revealed
from heaven, said Paul in Romans 1 18, against all ungodliness
and unrighteousness of men who hold or suppress or hold down
the truth in unrighteousness. Now, the wrath of God, this is
who he is. This is part of who he is. Punishment of the wicked is not
an arbitrary act on God's part where he has no object but to
make men miserable. I think that's what most people
think of when they think of the wrath of God. They think of him
as some kind of cosmic killjoy who wants to hurt people and
make them miserable. No, that has nothing to do with the wrath
of God. The wrath of God is designed
to manifest the displeasure of God against sin. Now that's what the wrath of
God is. And in God doing that, he makes
known his true character. What would the love of God, what
would the mercy of God, what would the grace of God, What
would salvation, what would the forgiveness of sin mean if we
didn't have the wrath of God? The wrath of God is who he is. These things would be meaningless
concepts if there were no wrath of God. And the wrath of God
is a part of his justice, his righteousness, his holiness. When we talk about the wrath
of God, hell tells us there is such a thing as the wrath of
God, and most especially the cross tells us there is such
a thing as the wrath of God. My sin actually became his sin,
so that he was guilty of it. And God showed him no mercy,
no partiality, even though it was his only begotten son, because
God must punish sin. God is just. God is holy. God is righteous. God must punish
sin. The scripture I just read said
he's willing to show his wrath, it's a part of who he is, and
to make his power, his ability, his omnipotence known. Without omnipotence, the power
to punish, his wrath is nothing more than an empty threat. What
if God willing to show his wrath and to make his power known. He endured with much longsuffering
the vessels of wrath, the scripture says, fitted to destruction. Now let me remind you, this is
God's word, not mine. What is this? Vessels of wrath. fitted to destruction. Well,
Jude puts it this way in Jude chapter four when he calls ungodly
men who were before of old ordained to this condemnation. Ungodly
men changing the grace of God to lasciviousness. Peter says
in 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 8, he speaks of those who stumble
at the word, being disobedient, whereunto also they were appointed. Now that's what God's word says.
Proverbs chapter 16 verse 4 says, the Lord hath made all things
for himself, yea, even the wicked. for the day of evil. Now, I've just given you what
God's Word actually says. And then we read of these vessels
of wrath fitted to destruction. Now, I want you to listen to
me real carefully right now. A man does not go to hell because God
arbitrarily appointed him to go to hell. A man goes to hell
because of his sin. That's why men go to hell. Because
of their sin. And he was before of old ordained
to this condemnation. That's what the Bible says. As
God is sovereign in election, he's sovereign in reprobation.
He sovereignly chose to give mercy to some. Aren't you thankful? Actually, to a great multitude.
And He sovereignly chose to pass by the rest and actually hardened
their hearts. That's what the Bible says. He
hath mercy on whom He will have mercy. And whom He will, He will. God actively hardens their heart
by doing nothing. That's all he's got to do. All
he's got to do is leave me or you alone, and that is him actively
hardening our heart. As I said a couple of weeks ago,
the same sun that melts the wax hardens the clay. Everything God does, whether
he saves or he condemns, is eternal. These vessels of wrath, who were
before of old, ordained to this condemnation, that means before
time began. And then the vessels of mercy, which he had afore
prepared unto glory. The Lord said, come ye, blessed
of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world. Everything God does is eternal. And I repeat with Abraham, shall
not the judge of the earth do right? There's where I rest my
case. Not that I have a case anyway, but whatever God does
is right. And I rest in that. I really
believe this is my father's world. And whatever he does is right. And he doesn't have any law over
his head that he does something because it's right. No, if he
does it, it is right because he did it. Now, do I understand
this? No. Do I believe it? With all my
heart. And I repeat, shall not the judge
of the earth do right? And don't miss this, he endured
the vessels of wrath with much long suffering. If I'm not a believer and I'm
not in hell right now, How longsuffering is God toward me? See, the reason
that we balk at this, and the reason we have a hard time grasping
it, is we really don't understand how bad sin is. That's the problem. If we understood sin, we wouldn't
balk at this for a second. Now look in verse 23. He endured
with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction."
And let me repeat, if a man goes to hell, he doesn't go to hell
because God arbitrarily chose to make him miserable. He goes
to hell because of his sin. With God, the punishment always
fits the crime. And these men, God before of
old, ordained to leave them to themselves. That's who God is. You see, God's God. He really
is God. That means he really is running
things. He runs everything. He's in absolute control. But
look in verse 23. He does this, that he might make
known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which
he had afore, before time began, prepared unto glory. Now, all of this would be meaningless,
these vessels of mercy aforeprepared unto glory, all of this would
be meaningless if there were no vessels of wrath, but oh,
the riches of his glory. Here's what I'm amazed by. that
he could love such sinful people. That he could give his son to
die for such sinful people. That there would be grace for
such sinners. Now what I'm talking about doesn't
shut anybody out of the kingdom of heaven. If you come to Christ
for mercy, you'll have it. Don't even imagine that there's
somebody who wants mercy and wants grace and wants God to
extend his favor toward him. He says, nope, you're a vessel
of wrath fitted to destruction. Never happened. Never happened,
never will happen. Anybody who wants mercy will
have mercy. That's God's promise. If you
really want mercy, I'm not talking about you really don't want to
go to hell. Nobody wants to go to hell. But I mean, if you really
want God to give you his free mercy, he will not withhold it. He said, him that cometh to me,
he said, all that the father giveth me shall come to me and
him that cometh to me, I will in no wise for no reason whatsoever
cast out. I don't care who you are. If
you come to Christ, you'll be received. I know it. Now, these vessels of mercy were taken out of the same lump
of the vessels of wrath, but how I love to think of these
vessels of mercy. The first person that came to my mind was that
woman taken in adultery, in the very act. And the Lord said unto
her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned
thee? And she said, No man, Lord. And
he said, Neither do I condemn thee. You know why? There was nothing to condemn
her for. If you're a vessel of mercy,
there is absolutely nothing to condemn you for. You stand before
God without sin. I think of the leper coming to
Christ, saying, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.
You think of his words, I will. Be thou clean. And immediately, he was
made clean. Vessels of mercy. I think of
the thief hanging on the cross. Lord, remember me when you come
into your kingdom. What was his reply? Today, thou
shalt be with me in paradise. Vessels of mercy. Now these vessels of mercy taken
out of the same lump as the vessels of wrath, he aforeprepared unto
glory. Let me quote three scriptures.
You can write these down, look them up on your own. 2 Timothy
1, 9, he saved us. And he called us with a holy
calling, not according to our works, but according to his own
purpose and grace, which were given us in Christ Jesus before
the world began. That's what the Bible says. Ephesians
1, 4 says, according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
him. Second, Thessalonians 2.13 says,
we're bound to thank God always for you, brethren, beloved of
the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation
through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth. Now, whatever God does, he did
before time began. That's just who he is. Scripture
says in Isaiah chapter 46, he declares 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 God's word. Verse 24. When we read of these vessels
of mercy which he had afore beforehand prepared unto glory, Paul identifies
exactly who these vessels of mercy are, even us whom he hath
called. Not of the Jews only, but also
of the Gentiles. Romans 9 and 11 says, for the
children being not yet born, neither having done any good
or evil, but the purpose of God according to election might stand,
not of works, but of him that calleth. We preach Christ crucified unto
the Jews, a stumbling block, unto the Greeks, foolishness,
but unto them which are called. both Jews and Greeks, Christ,
the power of God, Christ, the wisdom of God. Peter said on the day of Pentecost,
after preaching that message, the promise is to you and to
your children and to them that are far off. That sounds awful
good, doesn't it? even as many as the Lord our God shall call."
Now what I'd like to close with is talking about, for a few moments,
about the call of God. You can know whether or not you're
a vessel of mercy by having some experience of this thing of the
call of God. Paul said in Galatians 115, when
it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and
called me. He called me by His grace. Now I have five very simple points
to this thing of the call of God. And they go like this. Who, what, whom, how, and why. Very simple. Who calls? Paul said, when it pleased God,
who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by his grace,
he has called him which calleth. That's one of his names. Him
which calleth. God the Father calls, God the
Son calls, and God the Spirit all call. Now, how can I know
if God has called me? You'll know. You'll know. You see, His call
is effectual. That means it always works, and
it's irresistible. That means you can't resist it.
Now, if you're called effectually and irresistibly, you'll know
it. You'll hear when he calls. Now,
if all you hear is my voice right now, you know how much good it'll
do you? None. None. If it's just my opinion that
you can agree with or disagree with, you're not being called
by God. You see, if you hear His voice,
where you know this is God's call, this is the truth. The
Lord said, my sheep, hear my voice. I know them and they follow
me. So who calls? It's God who does
this calling. Here's second point. What's meant
by calling? What's that mean? God calling. Now, this word has three shades
of meaning. First of all, it's a divine summons. You know, when you get a summons
to appear in court, can you say, well, I don't think I'm going
to? No, you have to respond. You don't have any choice. It's
not optional. This call is a divine summons,
but it is also a loving wooing. A loving wooing. And this call
speaks of divine possession. Now, let me give you an example
of all three. Lazarus, come forth. Could Lazarus say no? Could he reject this call? No! He that was dead came forth. This is the divine summons of
God. A divine wooing. The Lord said,
Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden. You labor
under the burden of sin and guilt and you can't get that burden
off. There it is and yet our Lord
with such compassion says come unto me. Oh, ye that labor and
are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Rest is a response
to a finished work. What divine wooing is in that
call? Oh, I wish I could say it the
way the Savior said it, come unto me. And this is a command,
what a blessed command it is. And it sounds like an invitation
in a way, doesn't it? I wouldn't deny that, but it's
a command. Come unto me all ye that labor,
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. And then the calling
has something to do with divine possession. I have called thee
by name, thou art mine, God said. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the
sons of God. So that's what this call is.
It comes from God, it's a divine summons, it's a divine wooing,
and it's God identifying who are His. Now third, whom? Who is called? And you know,
this is a very easy thing to answer. Individuals. He called
me, by his grace. Individuals. Not some kind of
general call that awaits a response. I'm calling everybody and I'm
waiting to see what you do. No, that call, no such thing. No, he calls his own sheep by
name. Now this is the call that all
of God's elect experience, but it is an individual call. He calls individuals. The scripture says, whom he did
predestinate, them he also called. Here's how it works. Zacchaeus,
for some reason finds it in his heart a desire to see Jesus who
he is. He didn't know what was going
on, but he climbed up into a sycamore tree because he was little of
stature, and he wanted to see Jesus as he passed by. And he
got up into that tree, And as the Lord marches through Jericho,
he stops. He looks up and he says, Zacchaeus,
you reckon Zacchaeus was amazed when he heard his name? Zacchaeus,
make haste, come down, for today I must abide at thy house. You know what Zacchaeus did? He made haste. He came down. I mean, he was in a hurry. And
he received him joyfully. That's what happens when somebody
is called by grace. They make haste. There's no waiting
around. No waiting to see what's going
to happen. They make haste. They come down. The way up is always
down. And they receive him joyfully. Now how? How is this call made? How? Well, Galatians 1.15 says,
When it pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb, and
he called me by his what? Grace. You see, when God calls
you, this becomes preeminent in your thinking. Grace. Grace. The complete unmerited
favor of God. If it's not the call of grace,
it won't do you any good. This becomes uppermost in your
mind, this need of grace. This is what I need. I need the
grace of God. I need electing grace. I need redeeming grace. I need
regenerating grace. I need calling grace. I need
keeping grace. In a word, I need saving grace. It's a call of grace. And Paul
said in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 14, he called you by
our gospel. Now when God calls, it's always
by the gospel. What if someone hadn't heard
the gospel? Well, they hadn't been called. It's that simple. God calls by the gospel. You know the gospel when God
calls you. You know the good news. You know
how God saves for Christ's sake. He calls you by the gospel. And when he calls you, he calls
you irresistibly. I've heard people say, I don't
like that. I do. I do. I flat out like it. You find
the Lord Jesus Christ irresistible. You can't not come. You cannot
not believe. You don't have any choice in
this thing. You find Him Irresistible. All the arguments that come up
in your mind about why you can't come, what if I'm not elect,
what if I'm not saved, what if I'm not regenerated, what if
I don't really have faith, what if I'm not the, all the what
ifs, what ifs, they, you get through them because you have
to have Him. You find Him to be irresistible. And that's because He irresistibly
draws. you. Now, the last question is why? Why does he call us? Who calls?
God does. What is meant by calling? It's
a divine summons, it's a divine wooing, and it's his mark of
divine possession. Who does he call? Individuals,
his sheep. How? He calls them by grace,
by the gospel, and irresistibly. Now why does he call them? 1
Corinthians chapter 1 verse 3 says we're called to be saints. Called to be saints. This is that high, heavenly,
holy calling. Called to be saints, to be sanctified
ones, called to be holy. You know, the Lord says, be ye
holy, for I am holy. The only way you can be holy
is if you are holy. There's nothing you can do to
make yourself holy. The only way you can be holy
is if you are holy, given a holy nature, being made a partaker
of the divine nature. Now do not look at holiness as
a bland, colorless, joyless existence. And that's the way the natural
man looks at it. Holiness is life more abundant. It's being born again. is being
a partaker of the divine nature. Now, with regard to this thing
called to be saints, I'm Saint Todd. I love saying that. I've had people get mad at me
when I've said that. You know, a number of people have referred to it.
What do you think calling yourself a saint for? Well, I am. It's
because I am. I'm Saint Todd. I see a lot of saints I'm looking
at. Saints! Well, don't you got to do something? Got to be in
Christ. That makes me a saint. Saint Todd, called to be saints. How humbled we ought to be. He called me to be his saint,
his sanctified one, his holy one. How thankful we ought to
be. He called me to be a saint. How confident we ought to be. He called me. I didn't do this.
This has absolutely nothing to do with me. And that's why I
can speak with such confidence. If I thought it had anything
to do with me, I'd be, well, it didn't happen then. But knowing
that this is his work, what confidence we have called to be saints. The gifts and the callings of
God are without repentance. Peter said, give diligence to
make your calling and election sure. You're never going to make
your election sure. If you make your calling sure,
your election will be sure. Have I been called? Well, let
me ask you a real simple question. Are you calling? Are you calling right now? Whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. This is what the called do. They
call. Lord, we stand in awe of thy